Electrical Safe Work Practices Objectives (OSHA and NFPA 70E)

what are electrical hazards osha

what are electrical hazards osha - win

The Busy Bee Chemical Safety Plan

​
Preface for TheeHive Bees: I promised this safety plan quite some time ago. It has turned into quite the arduous, yet rewarding and insightful, task. The following document is best suited for BabyBees, and I will post it there as soon as possible after posting here; however, I hope that it will contain valuable information for most, if not all, bees. I, myself, am by no means an expert bee (although I possess a good deal of chemical knowledge in the ordinary sense, especially in regard to safety, at this point, and have a lot of experience in professional labs, mostly quantitative). As a result, I would like this to be a working document, and as such, I will consider any and all edits that other bees recommend. Please comment or DM any input or questions you may have. I am greatly indebted to all of you who have all ready provided assistance, and apologize if I missed any of your previous recommendations.
*I especially need some assistance with waste disposal (last section) information. I only know about professional waste disposal, which we obviously want to avoid when possible.
Table of Contents:
I. Introduction
II. Basic Laboratory Safety Rules
III. Dress, Preparation, and PPE for Lab Work
A. Basic Considerations
B. PPE
C. Lab Setup
D. Behavior and Technique
IV. Chemical Safety
A. SDS
B. Chemical Labeling
C. Chemical Storage
D. Bonding and Grounding
E. Peroxide Forming Molecules and Shelf Lives
V. Labware Safety
A. Glassware
B. Support
C. Tubing
D. Heat
E. Electricity
VI. Reaction Safety
A. Fume Hoods
B. Additional Tips
VII. Emergency Procedures
A. Emergency Shower and Eyewash Stations
B. Fire Extinguishers
C. Fire Blankets
D. Spills
E. First Aid
VIII. Post-Procedure Protocols
A. Personal Hygiene
B. Facility Hygiene
C. Waste Disposal
____________________________________________________________________________
II. Basic Laboratory Safety Rules:
​
III. Dress, Preparation, and PPE for Lab Work
A. Basic Considerations:
Before we apply PPE, there are some basic precautions that must be taken in terms of dress and personal hygiene.
Do NOT:
Do:
B. PPE (Personal Protective Equipment):
The most obvious safety practice is the use of personal protective equipment. However, PPE is the last system of defense against chemical hazards. Practitioners should focus their efforts on the maintenance of a safe work environment, proper training, and the replacement of more with less dangerous chemicals where possible. We will classify PPE into three sections- eye, body, and respiratory protection. (note: larger labs and some rare reactions may also require hearing protection, light-restrictive eye protection, hard hats, and other forms of protection as necessary).
Eye Protection: Chemical splash goggles
Eye protection is not just to prevent impact, which is all that general safety goggles, with or without side shields, do. General safety goggles and eyeglasses offer limited protection against sprays, and do NOT prevent splash hazards, which may come from any angle or drip down one’s face into the eyes. Additionally, some chemical fumes are eye irritants.
Bees should wear chemical splash goggles labeled with the code Z87.1, which denotes compliance with safety standards. The goggles must fit snugly against the face and remain on at all times. Suggestion: Chemical Splash/Impact Goggle.
Body Protection:
Long clothes that cover as much skin as possible is a must. This means closed shoes or boots, pants, long sleeves, a lab coat, and gloves. Tie back long hair. Change gloves and wash hands as often as possible, especially before leaving the lab. Recognize that touching things such as your phone with your gloves on may spread toxic chemicals.
  1. Gloves: Keep a large amount of gloves on hand. This includes boxes of traditional nitrile/latex gloves, and at least one pair each of heat/cold resistant and thick-rubber, arm-length, corrosive-resistant gloves.
2. Lab Coats: Multi-hazard protection lab coats are best, and should be both fire (FR) and chemical splash (CP) resistant. Most basic lab coats found online or in stores are not FCP. Proper coats are more expensive, but are absolutely worthwhile as they may prevent fire, chemical burns, and even death (research the UCLA tert-butyllithium incident). Here is an example of a proper lab coat: Lab Coat.
3. Respiratory Protection:
Never smell chemicals or inhale their fumes. Use a fume hood when necessary and keep containers closed tightly. In case of a large chemical spill, evacuate immediately. Use a fume hood with any organic solvent, concentrated acids, and concentrated ammonia. Use respirators when working with fine powders or toxic fumes.
C. Lab setup:
Develop a thorough floor plan before equipping your lab.
Priorities:
D. Behavior and Technique:
IV. Chemical Safety
A. SDS:
The first and most vital step to understand how to safely handle chemicals is thorough, proper, and regular review of Safety Data Sheets. It is recommended that physical copies of SDSs be kept for all chemicals in the laboratory. Safety Data Sheets can be found online as well, and should be reviewed each time a chemical is used, at least until one has extensive experience with that chemical. Safety and storage information should also be reviewed for any compounds synthesized, as well as any side products or impurities.
The format of an SDS is an update to the traditional MSDS, and follows the guidelines prescribed by the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) established in March 2012. A traditional MSDS is likely to contain all or most of the necessary information; however, SDS has the benefit of a strict and easy to follow format that includes the following 16 sections:
Section 1—Identification: Chemical/product name, name and contact information of producer.
Section 2—Hazard(s) Identification: All known hazards of the chemical and required label elements. The GHS identifies three hazard classes: health (toxicity, carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, etc.), physical (corrosive, flammable, combustible, etc.), and environmental hazards. There are 16 types of physical hazards and 10 types of health hazards. Next to each listed hazard is a rank/category from 1-4, with 1 being the most severe level of hazard. Next are hazard pictograms, a signal word, and hazard (H) statements and precautionary (P) statements. Pictograms allow chemists to quickly understand the basic hazards of a chemical, and must be on the chemical label. What pictograms a chemical requires is quantitatively determined, and users should become familiar with them.
📷
There are two signal words- Danger!, and Warning!, the former being more serious than the latter.
P and H statements list specifically hazardous situations and precautions that must be taken when handling the chemical.
Section 3—Composition/Information on Ingredients
Section 4—First-Aid Measures
Section 5—Fire-Fighting Measures
Section 6—Accidental Release Measures: What to do in case of accidental spill or release of chemicals, proper containment, and cleanup.
Section 7—Handling and Storage
Section 8—Exposure Controls/Personal Protection: Includes exposure limits.
Section 9—Physical and Chemical Properties: appearance, odor, flashpoint, solubility, pH, evaporation rates, etc.
Section 10—Stability and Reactivity: Chemical stability and possible hazardous reactions.
Section 11—Toxicological Information: Routes of exposure (inhalation, ingestion, or absorption contact), symptoms, acute and chronic effects, and numerical measures of toxicity.
Sections 12-15 are optional, but include ecological information, disposal considerations, transportation information, and regulatory information.
Section 16-- includes any additional information the producer may want to portray.
B. Chemical Labeling:
All chemicals should be labeled at all times to avoid hazard, confusion, and waste.
​
C. Chemical Storage:
General Reagents:
Common Storage Combinations to Avoid:
Compressed Gasses:
Note: avoid working with gases when possible. Gas chemistry has many complications, is often unsafe, and produces poor yields and poor quality products.
Bulk Storage Containers:
D. Bonding and Grounding:
“Class I Liquids should not be run or dispensed into a container unless the nozzle and container are electrically interconnected.” (OSHA 29 CFR 1910.106(e)(6)(ii), ATEX directive, and NFPA UFC Div. VIII, Sec. 79.803a). An ungrounded static voltage (including from friction) may cause combustion of some fluids. Metal containers must be connected via a common grounding wire made of solid or braided wire, or welded connections, before fluid is poured between them.
E. Peroxide-Forming Chemicals:
A variety of common chemicals spontaneously form peroxide compounds under ordinary storage conditions due to reaction with oxygen. Peroxides are extraordinarily explosive, and can often be ignited by contact with heat, friction (incl. simply turning the cap of the container), and mechanical shock (incl. shaking, bumping, or dropping).
Three classes of peroxide-forming chemicals are of particular interest, and are organized by the precautions that should be taken with unopened and opened containers.
Class A Peroxide Formers: the most hazardous class.
Unopened: discard or test for peroxides after 12 months or at manufacturer’s expiration date (whichever comes first).
Opened: Test for peroxides quarterly.
Common class A peroxide formers include:
Butadiene (liquid monomer)
Isopropyl ether
Sodium amide (sodamide)
Chloroprene (liquid monomer)
Potassium amide
Tetrafluoroethylene (liquid monomer)
Divinyl acetylene
Potassium metal
Vinylidene chloride
Class B Peroxide Formers:
Unopened: discard or test for peroxides after 12 months or at manufacturer’s expiration date (whichever comes first).
Opened: test for peroxide formation every 6 months.
*Always test this class immediately before any distillation.
Common Class B Peroxide Formers include:
Acetal
Cumene
Diacetylene
Methylacetylene
1-Phenylethanol
Acetaldehyde
Cyclohexanol
Diethyl ether
Methylcyclopentane
2-Phenylethanol
Benzyl alcohol
2-Cychlohexen-1-ol
Dioxanes
MIBK
2-Propanol
Benzaldehyde
Cyclohexene
Ethylene glycol dimethyl ether (glyme)
2-Pentanol
Tetrahydrofuran
2-Butanol
Decahydronaphthalene
Furan 4-Penten-1-ol
Class C Peroxide Formers:
Same precautions as Class B.
Include:
Acrylic acid
Chloroprene
Styrene
Vinyl acetylene
Vinyladiene chloride
Acrylonitirile
Chlorotrifluoroethylene
Tetrafluoroethylene
Vinyl chloride
Butadiene
Methyl methacrylate
Vinyl acetate
Vinyl pyridine
*Without opening, immediately dispose of any peroxide-forming chemical with any crystalline formation. Be careful not to open, shake, heat, or drop.
Testing Peroxide-Forming Chemicals:
Peroxide test strips can be bought cheaply online, or various in-lab tests can be performed:
One method is to combine the fluid with an equal volume (1-3mL) of acetic acid (AcOH). To this a few drops of a 5% KI solution are added, and a color change indicates the presence of peroxides.
Another method adds a small amount of the fluid to be tested (~0.5mL) to ~1mL 10% KI solution and ~0.5mL dilute HCL. To this a few drops of starch indicator are added, and the presence of blue/blue-black color within a minute indicates the presence of peroxides.
Fluids with a LOW (<30ppm) concentration of peroxides can often be deperoxidated via filtration through activated alumina, distillation (not for THF!), evaporation, or chromatography.
V. Labware Safety
A. Glassware:
B. Support:
C. Tubing:
D. Heating:
E. Electricity:
VI. Reaction Safety
A. Fume Hoods:
Fume hoods are absolutely essential whenever flammability, toxicity, or accidental intoxication is a concern. That includes all organic solvents, concentrated acids, and concentrated ammonia, as well as any materials that are both volatile and toxic, corrosive, reactive, or intoxicating. The face velocity of a fume hood should be around 100 ft/min or 0.5 m/s. Keep these guidelines in mind when using a fume hood:
Unfortunately, bees often find that fume hoods are the most difficult apparatus to obtain and install in a private laboratory. Nonetheless, it is imperative that each lab includes one. This is especially important for bees, who often work in confined spaces that can quickly and easily fill with toxic, flammable, or intoxicating vapors. A proper fume hood may cost several thousand dollars. Fortunately, there are many online guides and videos that teach how to construct one for as little as a few hundred dollars. The builder must meticulously ensure that air flow is adequate and constant. The outtake must be properly filtered, and there must not be any leaks through which air can flow other than the space under the sash and the outtake.
B. Additional Tips:
VII. Emergency Procedures
A. Emergency Shower and Eyewash Stations:
If any hazardous chemical comes in contact with the body or eyes, the emergency shower or eye-wash station should be utilized immediately, with continued application for at least 15 minutes. The eyes should be held open for this entire process. Quality eye-wash stations can be purchased online for between 50 and several hundred US dollars. Bees who don’t have one installed are advised to purchase one. Some models can be attached directly to a sink faucet. An alternative, less effective, and minimal necessary precaution is bottled, eye-safe saline solution such as EyeSaline and Physician’s Care Eyewash Station, which can be purchased online for around $10 for a single bottle, and $30+ for kits. At least two bottles should be kept on hand in case both eyes are contaminated. Application of bottled solution to both eyes may require a partner, because the eyes must be held open to maximize effectiveness. For this, and other reasons (speed, difficulty/time of opening bottles vs. pushing a button, and water pressure) an actual eyewash station is in all ways preferred. Faucet-mounted eyewash stations such as the following are very affordable (US $59.95). Recommended Eyewash Station.
Bees may not, however, have the space to install a safety shower. The home shower may be used in its stead; however, precaution must be taken to ensure it is easily accessible. The chemist should alert all others in the home/facility that they are working, and require that the door to the shower, and the path to it, be open at all times in case of emergency.
B. Fire extinguishers:
Class A- ordinary combustibles- wood, cloth, paper- can be extinguished with water, or general fire extinguishers.
Class B- organic solvents, flammable liquids- chemical foam extinguishers (also work for class A and C).
Class C- electrical equipment- chemical foam extinguishers.
Class D- combustible metals such as aluminum, titanium, magnesium, lithium, zirconium, sodium, and potassium.
C. Fire blankets:
Used for small fires, or to put out a person who has caught fire (laying on ground, standing may cause the fire to move up the body to the head due to a chimney effect).
D. Spills:
Keep some vinegar or baking soda around to neutralize bases and acids, respectively. After acids and bases are neutralized, the chemical can be mopped up and placed in waste disposal.
VIII. Post-Procedure Protocols
A. Personal Hygiene:
Wash hands, face, and all exposed skin after PPE has been removed to avoid recontamination by touching dirty clothes. Shower and change clothes once possible.
B. Facility Hygiene:
Clean all surfaces, glassware, and equipment before leaving the lab. Keep laboratory items in the lab, and personal items out of it. Chemicals may be transferred into the home through those items. Additionally, foreign objects have the potential to contaminate sterile laboratory environments.
C. Waste Disposal:
Waste disposal is one of the most important aspects of safety, image management, public relations, avoidance of fines or criminal charges, and environmental preservation.
The Article “Management of Waste” found here states, “The best strategy for managing laboratory waste aims to maximize safety and minimize environmental impact, and considers these objectives from the time of purchase.” The article describes four tiers of waste management:
  1. Pollution prevention and source reduction (green chemistry).
  2. Reuse and redistribution of unwanted/surplus material (purchasing only what is needed).
  3. Treatment, reclamation, and recycling of materials within the waste.
  4. Disposal through incineration, treatment, or land burial. Additionally, use of solvent as fuel, or a fuel blender (the least desirable tier).
I hope this safety plan can save a few bees. I know there is a lot of information, but chemical safety is extremely important and multifaceted. Best of luck with your endeavors. Stay safe out there!
submitted by MarquisDeVice to TheeHive [link] [comments]

The Busy Bee Chemical Safety Plan

​
Table of Contents:
I. Introduction
II. Basic Laboratory Safety Rules
III. Dress, Preparation, and PPE for Lab Work
A. Basic Considerations
B. PPE
C. Lab Setup
D. Behavior and Technique
IV. Chemical Safety
A. SDS
B. Chemical Labeling
C. Chemical Storage
D. Bonding and Grounding
E. Peroxide Forming Molecules and Shelf Lives
V. Labware Safety
A. Glassware
B. Support
C. Tubing
D. Heat
E. Electricity
VI. Reaction Safety
A. Fume Hoods
B. Additional Tips
VII. Emergency Procedures
A. Emergency Shower and Eyewash Stations
B. Fire Extinguishers
C. Fire Blankets
D. Spills
E. First Aid
VIII. Post-Procedure Protocols
A. Personal Hygiene
B. Facility Hygiene
C. Waste Disposal
IX. List of Edits
____________________________________________________________________________
I. Introduction:
Chemistry is an extremely exciting endeavor; however, it can also be an exceedingly dangerous one. Professional chemists are disfigured, maimed, burned, and even killed every year. Clandestine chemists face even greater harm when they have a lack of knowledge, inadequate facilities, no established safety protocol, or a capricious attitude. If you want to be a productive bee, you will face untold hours of preparation. It will prove to be a worthwhile endeavor; however, it is not something to rush, and your chances of success are slim-to-none if you damage yourself, others, or your home/facility.
The following document is very long and thorough. We won't pretend that bees are going to follow all of these recommendations, but I urge all baby bees to at least browse this document to become familiarize with the attitude of safety and some of the dangers of laboratory work.
I am open to any and all recommendations, questions, and edits- this will be a working document.
I wish you all luck in your exploration. Remember, however, that safety in the lab rarely comes down to luck- it is all about preparation, execution, and awareness of your surroundings. Safe travels, fellow bees!
II. Basic Laboratory Safety Rules:
​
III. Dress, Preparation, and PPE for Lab Work
A. Basic Considerations:
Before we apply PPE, there are some basic precautions that must be taken in terms of dress and personal hygiene.
Do NOT:
Do:
B. PPE (Personal Protective Equipment):
The most obvious safety practice is the use of personal protective equipment. However, PPE is the last system of defense against chemical hazards. Practitioners should focus their efforts on the maintenance of a safe work environment, proper training, and the replacement of more with less dangerous chemicals where possible. We will classify PPE into three sections- eye, body, and respiratory protection. (note: larger labs and some rare reactions may also require hearing protection, light-restrictive eye protection, hard hats, and other forms of protection as necessary).
Eye Protection: Chemical splash goggles
Eye protection is not just to prevent impact, which is all that general safety goggles, with or without side shields, do. General safety goggles and eyeglasses offer limited protection against sprays, and do NOT prevent splash hazards, which may come from any angle or drip down one’s face into the eyes. Additionally, some chemical fumes are eye irritants.
Bees should wear chemical splash goggles labeled with the code Z87.1, which denotes compliance with safety standards. The goggles must fit snugly against the face and remain on at all times. Suggestion: Chemical Splash/Impact Goggle.
Body Protection:
Long clothes that cover as much skin as possible is a must. This means closed shoes or boots, pants, long sleeves, a lab coat, and gloves. Tie back long hair. Change gloves and wash hands as often as possible, especially before leaving the lab. Recognize that touching things such as your phone with your gloves on may spread toxic chemicals.
  1. Gloves: Keep a large amount of gloves on hand. This includes boxes of traditional nitrile/latex gloves, and at least one pair each of heat/cold resistant and thick-rubber, arm-length, corrosive-resistant gloves.
2. Lab Coats: Multi-hazard protection lab coats are best, and should be both fire (FR) and chemical splash (CP) resistant. Most basic lab coats found online or in stores are not FCP. Proper coats are more expensive, but are absolutely worthwhile as they may prevent fire, chemical burns, and even death (research the UCLA tert-butyllithium incident). Here is an example of a proper lab coat: Lab Coat.
3. Respiratory Protection:
Never smell chemicals or inhale their fumes. Use a fume hood when necessary and keep containers closed tightly. In case of a large chemical spill, evacuate immediately. Use a fume hood with any organic solvent, concentrated acids, and concentrated ammonia. Use respirators when working with fine powders or toxic fumes.
C. Lab setup:
Develop a thorough floor plan before equipping your lab.
Priorities:
D. Behavior and Technique:
IV. Chemical Safety
A. SDS:
The first and most vital step to understand how to safely handle chemicals is thorough, proper, and regular review of Safety Data Sheets. It is recommended that physical copies of SDSs be kept for all chemicals in the laboratory. Safety Data Sheets can be found online as well, and should be reviewed each time a chemical is used, at least until one has extensive experience with that chemical. Safety and storage information should also be reviewed for any compounds synthesized, as well as any side products or impurities.
The format of an SDS is an update to the traditional MSDS, and follows the guidelines prescribed by the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) established in March 2012. A traditional MSDS is likely to contain all or most of the necessary information; however, SDS has the benefit of a strict and easy to follow format that includes the following 16 sections:
Section 1—Identification: Chemical/product name, name and contact information of producer.
Section 2—Hazard(s) Identification: All known hazards of the chemical and required label elements. The GHS identifies three hazard classes: health (toxicity, carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, etc.), physical (corrosive, flammable, combustible, etc.), and environmental hazards. There are 16 types of physical hazards and 10 types of health hazards. Next to each listed hazard is a rank/category from 1-4, with 1 being the most severe level of hazard. Next are hazard pictograms, a signal word, and hazard (H) statements and precautionary (P) statements. Pictograms allow chemists to quickly understand the basic hazards of a chemical, and must be on the chemical label. What pictograms a chemical requires is quantitatively determined, and users should become familiar with them.
📷
There are two signal words- Danger!, and Warning!, the former being more serious than the latter.
P and H statements list specifically hazardous situations and precautions that must be taken when handling the chemical.
Section 3—Composition/Information on Ingredients
Section 4—First-Aid Measures
Section 5—Fire-Fighting Measures
Section 6—Accidental Release Measures: What to do in case of accidental spill or release of chemicals, proper containment, and cleanup.
Section 7—Handling and Storage
Section 8—Exposure Controls/Personal Protection: Includes exposure limits.
Section 9—Physical and Chemical Properties: appearance, odor, flashpoint, solubility, pH, evaporation rates, etc.
Section 10—Stability and Reactivity: Chemical stability and possible hazardous reactions.
Section 11—Toxicological Information: Routes of exposure (inhalation, ingestion, or absorption contact), symptoms, acute and chronic effects, and numerical measures of toxicity.
Sections 12-15 are optional, but include ecological information, disposal considerations, transportation information, and regulatory information.
Section 16-- includes any additional information the producer may want to portray.
B. Chemical Labeling:
All chemicals should be labeled at all times to avoid hazard, confusion, and waste.
​
C. Chemical Storage:
General Reagents:
Common Storage Combinations to Avoid:
Compressed Gasses:
Note: avoid working with gases when possible. Gas chemistry has many complications, is often unsafe, and produces poor yields and poor quality products.
Bulk Storage Containers:
D. Bonding and Grounding:
“Class I Liquids should not be run or dispensed into a container unless the nozzle and container are electrically interconnected.” (OSHA 29 CFR 1910.106(e)(6)(ii), ATEX directive, and NFPA UFC Div. VIII, Sec. 79.803a). An ungrounded static voltage (including from friction) may cause combustion of some fluids. Metal containers must be connected via a common grounding wire made of solid or braided wire, or welded connections, before fluid is poured between them.
E. Peroxide-Forming Chemicals:
A variety of common chemicals spontaneously form peroxide compounds under ordinary storage conditions due to reaction with oxygen. Peroxides are extraordinarily explosive, and can often be ignited by contact with heat, friction (incl. simply turning the cap of the container), and mechanical shock (incl. shaking, bumping, or dropping).
Three classes of peroxide-forming chemicals are of particular interest, and are organized by the precautions that should be taken with unopened and opened containers.
Class A Peroxide Formers: the most hazardous class.
Unopened: discard or test for peroxides after 12 months or at manufacturer’s expiration date (whichever comes first).
Opened: Test for peroxides quarterly.
Common class A peroxide formers include:
Butadiene (liquid monomer)
Isopropyl ether
Sodium amide (sodamide)
Chloroprene (liquid monomer)
Potassium amide
Tetrafluoroethylene (liquid monomer)
Divinyl acetylene
Potassium metal
Vinylidene chloride
Class B Peroxide Formers:
Unopened: discard or test for peroxides after 12 months or at manufacturer’s expiration date (whichever comes first).
Opened: test for peroxide formation every 6 months.
*Always test this class immediately before any distillation.
Common Class B Peroxide Formers include:
Acetal
Cumene
Diacetylene
Methylacetylene
1-Phenylethanol
Acetaldehyde
Cyclohexanol
Diethyl ether
Methylcyclopentane
2-Phenylethanol
Benzyl alcohol
2-Cychlohexen-1-ol
Dioxanes
MIBK
2-Propanol
Benzaldehyde
Cyclohexene
Ethylene glycol dimethyl ether (glyme)
2-Pentanol
Tetrahydrofuran
2-Butanol
Decahydronaphthalene
Furan 4-Penten-1-ol
Class C Peroxide Formers:
Same precautions as Class B.
Include:
Acrylic acid
Chloroprene
Styrene
Vinyl acetylene
Vinyladiene chloride
Acrylonitirile
Chlorotrifluoroethylene
Tetrafluoroethylene
Vinyl chloride
Butadiene
Methyl methacrylate
Vinyl acetate
Vinyl pyridine
*Without opening, immediately dispose of any peroxide-forming chemical with any crystalline formation. Be careful not to open, shake, heat, or drop.
Testing Peroxide-Forming Chemicals:
Peroxide test strips can be bought cheaply online, or various in-lab tests can be performed:
One method is to combine the fluid with an equal volume (1-3mL) of acetic acid (AcOH). To this a few drops of a 5% KI solution are added, and a color change indicates the presence of peroxides.
Another method adds a small amount of the fluid to be tested (~0.5mL) to ~1mL 10% KI solution and ~0.5mL dilute HCL. To this a few drops of starch indicator are added, and the presence of blue/blue-black color within a minute indicates the presence of peroxides.
Fluids with a LOW (<30ppm) concentration of peroxides can often be deperoxidated via filtration through activated alumina, distillation (not for THF!), evaporation, or chromatography.
V. Labware Safety
A. Glassware:
B. Support:
C. Tubing:
D. Heating:
E. Electricity:
VI. Reaction Safety
A. Fume Hoods:
Fume hoods are absolutely essential whenever flammability, toxicity, or accidental intoxication is a concern. That includes all organic solvents, concentrated acids, and concentrated ammonia, as well as any materials that are both volatile and toxic, corrosive, reactive, or intoxicating. The face velocity of a fume hood should be around 100 ft/min or 0.5 m/s. Keep these guidelines in mind when using a fume hood:
Unfortunately, bees often find that fume hoods are the most difficult apparatus to obtain and install in a private laboratory. Nonetheless, it is imperative that each lab includes one. This is especially important for bees, who often work in confined spaces that can quickly and easily fill with toxic, flammable, or intoxicating vapors. A proper fume hood may cost several thousand dollars. Fortunately, there are many online guides and videos that teach how to construct one for as little as a few hundred dollars. The builder must meticulously ensure that air flow is adequate and constant. The outtake must be properly filtered, and there must not be any leaks through which air can flow other than the space under the sash and the outtake.
B. Additional Tips:
VII. Emergency Procedures
A. Emergency Shower and Eyewash Stations:
If any hazardous chemical comes in contact with the body or eyes, the emergency shower or eye-wash station should be utilized immediately, with continued application for at least 15 minutes. The eyes should be held open for this entire process. Quality eye-wash stations can be purchased online for between 50 and several hundred US dollars. Bees who don’t have one installed are advised to purchase one. Some models can be attached directly to a sink faucet. An alternative, less effective, and minimal necessary precaution is bottled, eye-safe saline solution such as EyeSaline and Physician’s Care Eyewash Station, which can be purchased online for around $10 for a single bottle, and $30+ for kits. At least two bottles should be kept on hand in case both eyes are contaminated. Application of bottled solution to both eyes may require a partner, because the eyes must be held open to maximize effectiveness. For this, and other reasons (speed, difficulty/time of opening bottles vs. pushing a button, and water pressure) an actual eyewash station is in all ways preferred. Faucet-mounted eyewash stations such as the following are very affordable (US $59.95). Recommended Eyewash Station.
Bees may not, however, have the space to install a safety shower. The home shower may be used in its stead; however, precaution must be taken to ensure it is easily accessible. The chemist should alert all others in the home/facility that they are working, and require that the door to the shower, and the path to it, be open at all times in case of emergency.
B. Fire extinguishers:
Class A- ordinary combustibles- wood, cloth, paper- can be extinguished with water, or general fire extinguishers.
Class B- organic solvents, flammable liquids- chemical foam extinguishers (also work for class A and C).
Class C- electrical equipment- chemical foam extinguishers.
Class D- combustible metals such as aluminum, titanium, magnesium, lithium, zirconium, sodium, and potassium.
C. Fire blankets:
Used for small fires, or to put out a person who has caught fire (laying on ground, standing may cause the fire to move up the body to the head due to a chimney effect).
D. Spills:
Keep some vinegar or baking soda around to neutralize bases and acids, respectively. After acids and bases are neutralized, the chemical can be mopped up and placed in waste disposal.
VIII. Post-Procedure Protocols
A. Personal Hygiene:
Wash hands, face, and all exposed skin after PPE has been removed to avoid recontamination by touching dirty clothes. Shower and change clothes once possible.
B. Facility Hygiene:
Clean all surfaces, glassware, and equipment before leaving the lab. Keep laboratory items in the lab, and personal items out of it. Chemicals may be transferred into the home through those items. Additionally, foreign objects have the potential to contaminate sterile laboratory environments.
C. Waste Disposal:
Waste disposal is one of the most important aspects of safety, image management, public relations, avoidance of fines or criminal charges, and environmental preservation.
The Article “Management of Waste” found here states, “The best strategy for managing laboratory waste aims to maximize safety and minimize environmental impact, and considers these objectives from the time of purchase.” The article describes four tiers of waste management:
  1. Pollution prevention and source reduction (green chemistry).
  2. Reuse and redistribution of unwanted/surplus material (purchasing only what is needed).
  3. Treatment, reclamation, and recycling of materials within the waste.
  4. Disposal through incineration, treatment, or land burial. Additionally, use of solvent as fuel, or a fuel blender (the least desirable tier).
I hope this safety plan can save a few bees. I know there is a lot of information, but chemical safety is extremely important and multifaceted. Best of luck with your endeavors. Stay safe out there!
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Check out the most recent Safety & Education Committee article by John Lamond, National Sales Director at GME Supply Co.

Three Pillars of RF Safety
While the general public should never be in a place where they would experience an overexposure of RF, at-height workers’ jobs takes them to places where it should be considered. The introduction of 5G technology has further complicated that risk and introduced new and upcoming challenges. Telecom workers are accustomed to keeping these dangers in mind, but as antennas have expanded onto rooftops, inside buildings and apartments, and even on street lights and church steeples, workers who probably never considered RF now need to be more aware of those hazards. For any of these workers, especially those in telecom, that includes three factors: training, planning/risk assessment and proper equipment.
Training
A proper RF training course educates participants how to recognize the hazards of RF that exist on both the tower and alternative sites. It should provide the trainee a solid understanding of RF awareness so they will recognize the hazards and make good decisions if exposure exists. The goal is no different than for any other focused training. The worker should be able to work safely, avoiding harm to themselves and the rest of their crew.
A quality course should require a test and an industry recognized certification. The course should include discussion on, but not limited to: Ionizing versus non-ionizing radiation, cumulative vs non-cumulative heating, managing exposure, time averaging, RF suits and monitors, and RF signage. The various types of antennas found during field work should also be reviewed within an organization’s training program. As with other training, a one-time approach is not enough. The risks change and training must be updated. It is recommended that workers re-certify with RF training every two years.
Planning/Risk Assessment
Addressing the dangers of RF can be difficult for several reasons. This type of radiation is hard to recognize as it cannot be seen, felt, or sensed immediately. Unlike radiant heat or electricity there may not be obvious signs that there could be a hazard. To identify the potential risk, a worker or crew must utilize their training to perform an assessment of all the potential RF hazards around or on site.
This assessment of RF danger should take into account the scope of work to be performed, the types of antennas in the work area, the access and egress plan, and any other outlying factors that may create additional exposure hazards. It should also identify the presence of signage (or lack thereof). One should not rely solely on the signage to determine risk.
Once the site plan has been reviewed, and the site itself has been evaluated in person, RF hazard mitigation/elimination work can begin. To do that, it is essential that the competent person performing an RF assessment be on site as real world challenges often differ from documentation. The plan must identify the employees working in the hazard area, ensure that they have received proper RF training and have identified the types of equipment to be utilized as a part of the RF plan. This may involve the requirement of additional PPE for the employee, the forced turn down of surrounding antennas, or other situational changes to the job or work environment. The competent person needs to understand what types of controls will be used to keep employees safe from the RF hazards.
Equipment
Once the site assessment is complete, and it is determined that it is not possible to avoid exposure altogether, a plan must be developed that considers the appropriate PPE and work methods to limit exposure. Such PPE would include anything from an RF meter to a full body RF suit. As with any PPE, the user must be trained on inspection, care, and use.
To keep workers safe, OSHA has maximum permissible exposure (MPE) levels for non-ionizing radiation. To ensure that workers are not overexposed, companies must provide equipment which measures the active RF environment. This enables workers to recognize the hazards and make good decisions when potential exposure exists. RF monitors are a complement to training, not a replacement for it. They are typically a shaped probe/shaped response device, meaning that the device accounts for all RF frequencies in the active range, and provides a visual display of the highest level of exposure.
Many of the RF meters which are available currently display exposure as a percentage of the MPE for the 6-minute window. Anything which is displayed under 100% of the MPE does not require abatement. For everything 100% and above, the employee should exit the field and consult with their competent/qualified person as defined in their company’s RF hazard mitigation program. For additional information, please see the FCC OET 56.
At any time, an employee needs to be aware of whether the RF to which they are potentially exposed exceeds the MPE level. RF meters can be a part of the employee’s PPE and provide a warning of exposure level that can be addressed as a part of their RF plan. This may involve exiting the RF field, requiring turndown of equipment, or seeking additional support to modify the plan, ensuring employee safety.
The most popular equipment manufacturers have responded to the additional spectrum covered by 5G by increasing their coverage up to 60 GHz. It is critical that the proper meter is selected for the RF fields and frequencies to be encountered. RF meter training needs to provide every user with the manufacturer’s recommended operating procedures and the means to inspect to ensure proper functionality. Recalibration is dependent on the manufacturer but is typically done every two to three years.
If at any point while working a technician believes that they or a coworker may be suffering from exposure, they should immediately remove themselves from the RF source, move the affected to a cool dry area, loosen any heavy clothing, drink plenty of room temperature water and possibly seek medical attention. Until the employee is fully recovered, someone should always stay with the affected person.
Be Safe
Where does the responsibility for RF safety lie? OSHA is very clear on that, but the goal should not be a blame game after the fact, but rather a collaborative effort where everyone understands our interdependence.
The FCC’s maximum permissible exposure guidelines apply to 5G and cover the entire range of frequencies used by wireless carriers. While there is a high concern among a select group of the population about the dangers of 5G, all of the same measures are in place to ensure that the general public should never be worried about the new technology that has been developed and is being implemented.
John Lamond is a member of the NATE Safety & Education Committee and National Sales Director at GME Supply Co in Columbia, Missouri. He can be reached at 573-283-8952 or [email protected].
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How to Keep Your Construction Site Safe When Building a Home

How to Keep Your Construction Site Safe When Building a Home
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Construction can be a thrilling business as you help construct or renovate buildings that previously only existed on blueprints. Working with a team to create someone’s vision for their home can be an exhilarating experience but working in construction does come with hazards. Working with heavy equipment and power tools is dangerous simply by its nature. Accidents can happen, which is why it’s important to do everything in your power to keep your construction site as safe as possible.

Make Sure Your Workers Are Properly Trained

One of the first things you should do is maintain proper training for all your employees. Training should be frequent and thorough and cover everything from driving the big machines to using a hammer correctly. Proper training can prevent accidents simply by the nature of knowing how to use the equipment and knowing what the hazards are of your construction site. But training also helps your employees understand what to do if things aren’t working properly as well as what to do in case of an emergency. Frequent training keeps the guidelines fresh in your employees’ minds and reduces risk of forgetting the information and causing an accident. It should be one of your top priorities to keep your employees up to date on their training so that they can perform their jobs as safely as possible.

Enforce Proper PPE Guidelines

You should also enforce proper personal protective equipment (PPE) guidelines. Your employees should be wearing the proper protective equipment whenever they operate any machinery or are working to repair the roof or install insulation. Hazards from the material can cause injury to your employees if they are not protected. For example, insulation has small fine fiberglass particles that are very dangerous to inhale and can cause damage to the lungs. Installing insulation can put you in danger of inhaling the fiberglass particles and encountering them on your skin, which can damage your health. Wearing appropriate protective equipment, such as a mask, protective goggles and gloves can go a long way towards shielding your employees from the harmful effects of the materials they work with.

Dispose of Your Scrap Material Carefully

Another hazard that you may not think about is the scrap material from your project. No matter how hard you might try to limit the amount of scrap material, there will still be some. Having a dumpster is crucial to a project, but there are some that are safer than others. For example, bottom dump hoppers create a safer working environment than some other methods of disposal.
These dumpsters are loaded at the top and then when they are emptied, the bottom opens to dump the material into the garbage truck. Scrap material can be dangerous as it can contain chemicals that are hazardous to humans and they need to be disposed of carefully. While some scrap material can be recycled as it is chemical-free, some cannot, and it is up to you to dispose of that material properly to keep your employees safe.

Establish Clear Communication

An important part of any construction project is to establish clear communication with your employees and with your clients that you work for. It could be hazardous for the people you’re working for (if they’re still living in the house while you’re renovating it) to be in the construction zone, so it is important to communicate with them how to talk to you about changes to the design. But it is even more important to establish clear communication with your employees to prevent accidents. This can be incorporated as part of the regular training, but it is important to communicate with your employees daily for their safety.
Whenever there is a new hazard, all of your employees should be warned about it. All employees should understand the importance of staying clear of heavy machinery that’s backing up. Put up some safety signs so your employees know what areas are hazardous. For your safety and the safety of your employees, it is important that there is clear communication between you and them and with those who operate the machinery and even your clients. Clear communication can keep an area safe and make a project work like a charm, while poor communication can be deadly.

Keep a Good Record of the Project

It is also important to keep a record of the project. This record can help keep track of accidents that happen and can illustrate the safety procedures that you implement. Keeping a record of the project allows you to know what areas have been hazardous, allowing you to know precisely what areas should be handled with more care than others. These hazard areas might be broken pipelines, damaged electrical wiring, and incorrectly installed insulation. Knowing these areas are hazardous allows you to know what safety procedures to implement to keep your employees safe. Keeping a record is important for your construction site safety because it allows you to keep track of what has been done to keep your employees safe and what you can do to improve.

Conduct Regular Inspections

Another thing you should do is conduct regular inspections of the equipment. The results of these inspections can go into your record of the project, helping you keep track of your updates to safety procedures and help you know if they are working or not. Regular inspections can also help you know how your heavy equipment is functioning and if any parts need replacing. These inspections should not only be done for your heavy equipment, but also for the personal protective equipment of your employees to make sure it holds up to OSHA standards and will perform its function to keep your employees safe. Regular inspections should be routine for your construction company as they help prevent injury
Construction work is exciting, but safety procedures should be a top priority for you and for your employees. Following safety procedures requires diligence but it is of the utmost importance for your employees’ safety. This will help you and your employees to avoid a lot of injuries.
If you’re looking for a roofing professional to install a quality roof, we’ve got you covered! Contact us for a free estimate!
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OBLIGATORY FILLER MATERIAL – Breaking Bad, Part 10

Continuing
Since I had a little extra time, I had him drop the personnel cage, which was about the size of a phone booth (remember them?) but made of welded ½” rebar, down through the hole in the foredeck of the ship. I needed to load a few items and figured why the hell walk up and down stairs when I had a personal elevator at my disposal?
Into the belly of the beast once again and I gathered up some of the more needful items. I had that crane operator, he of the surgical touch, hang me off the prow of that ship while I did what I considered a necessity, then over to the back side of the cut, over the top to the opposite side, and back again.
By the time darkness began to fall, I had completed all my extraneous wiring. The crane operator even deposited me ever so gently about 3 feet from my waiting motorcycle. Over the radio I thanked him again and invited him to come around tomorrow at 0600 for a few final checks. I’d save him a front-row 1000 hours seat to see what he had a hand in creating.
I went straight to the Raj as I was going to need my PPEs the next day anyways. Got in, parked my bike, went straight to the bar, had a couple of long, hard day at the office drinks, and retired to my room where I locked the door. After calling Esme and telling her I finally got my tickets home, well, the promise of tickets to at least to Dubai; that she should meet me at the Four Seasons as I wrangled it through my contract. We could wait out this silly viral lockdown in comfort on someone else’s nickel until they decided to open the Sultanate again.
We agreed that she’d meet me at the hotel in 3-4 days’ time; it seems she had some glasses made and they wouldn’t be done for a couple of days. Plus, she really enjoyed her mother’s company. Can’t argue with that. It means I’ll have to spend a few nights alone, on my own, bereft of human companionship, in a 5-star hotel in an international venue while it’s all being paid for by someone else.
I think I can deal with the upcoming hardship. It’ll be tough, but I think I can gut it out.
But first, there are some details to which I have to attend. There’s this package for Mr. Vikramaditya Shrivastava, the knot headed warehouse foreman who thought that by spending fewer rupees at a dodgy Hong Kong explosives purveyor that he’d be saving the company money. I’ll drop by his office bright and early tomorrow as I need to be out on-site very early, indeed, to make sure all is in readiness.
Also, there’s this box I have for our own Majordomo. He’ll be leaving tonight for his weekly shopping trip to town. Since I have bribed the floor-maid with ridiculous sums of rupees, she’ll let me in his room to deliver my present and has promised, up, down and sideways, that she won’t say a word to anyone.
I send off Sanjay’s and my latest reports to Agents Rack and Ruin, explaining that I’m far too busy to talk with them right now and that I want to finish what I started for fear of landing in the GULAG. I explain that I’m very querulous of Goodgulf Greyteeth and his brown-shirted minions. I tell them that I think his way of looking at things and assessing them are most at odds with the way I see things.
I make it as convoluted and misdirected as the wiring I did today on the boat.
I also tell them that I’m knocking off early tonight as tomorrow’s show time and I need a good night’s sleep. Especially for everything I’ve got planned with all the dignitaries who are slated to arrive.
If that doesn’t get their giblets tap-dancing, I’m not certain what would.
I hear my phones buzzing but after checking the numbers and seeing they’re not from Baja Canada, I roundly ignore them.
I decide that the new issue of Blaster’s and Quarryman’s Monthly would be just the reading ticket and retire to the bubbly tub with that, a bottle of Old Fornicator, a bucket of ice, and several cigars. Tomorrow’s going to be a big day; best to be rested and ready.
I’m up at 0500 hours, showered, shower-scotched, dressed, and at the job site promptly at 0600; right after I made a surreptitious delivery to a certain Warehouse Foreman’s office.
The Majordomo took possession of his package late last night, but I sincerely doubt he’s aware of that fact; or will be until I send an anonymous message.
The crane operator I paid last night was there as I mentioned I’d be in early to give the place a final once-over. After parting with a couple of cigars, a wad of rupees, and the promise of a front-row seat, I eschew the personnel basket and have him just clip onto my rescue harness. I need mobility at this point, so I gather up a few extra blasting caps, boosters, roll some Primacord in loops and hang it from the carabiners on the front of my harness or stuff them into one of many pockets. Then I give the thumbs-up “haul-away” sign.
“This is the cat’s ass”, I thought as I’m swinging around the outside of that old boat like some sort of aging Spiderman who’s really let himself go. I didn’t care that OSHA would have mailed me home sans bubble wrap if they ever saw this sort of stunt stateside, but that’s just the thing. I’m not stateside. Where else can I have such freedom in the world today to calculate the personal risk involved and decide that I can handle the hazards?
Sure, I could fall. I could get caught on an edge of very sharp marine steel and get sliced up a treat. Maybe several billion errant electrons go where they are not only not wanted but are insulated against, and in short, cause a short. I’d be a 22-stone charcoaled piñata, complete with diverticula-ed entrails and cinder-block liver decorations.
However, it’s my choice. I knew the job was dangerous when I took it. However, I also know how to mitigate the danger. For some, what I’m doing would be certain death. For me, who knows the ropes, circuits, and ins-and-outs, it’s a pleasant diversion to an otherwise boring day.
“Left 10 meters”, I call over the radio, and I swing over to exactly where I need to check some connections.
“8 meters due down”, I say and the bottom drops out. 25 or so feet later, I’m inspecting another circuit plexus. I feel like Arthur Dent and Slartibartfast is my co-pilot.
This went on for about an hour. I even had him drop me over the side, deep into the very bowels of the boat. I disconnect, hang the crane hook, and told the driver to hold on. I need to walkabout inside the ship and galv a few dozen connections. This is so much easier than futzing around with personnel baskets, scissor lifts, and my personal nemesis, stairs.
After another 30 minutes, I hook up and give a couple of pips on the radio.
“Going up!” I say as I whoosh past the hole we had cut in the foredeck. A few hand gestures later, and I’m de-hooked once again and on solid ground. I wave to my crane operator, he waves back and begins to drive off to his real job for the day.
No worries. He’ll be back, without the crane, for the 1000 hour kick-off time.
Since the show isn’t slated to begin, as I just noted, until 1000, I go back over to the portable office they had so thoughtfully set up for us and begin brewing the morning coffee. I rummage through my field case and am relieved to see that I have the necessary ingredients for Greenland Coffee.
And a fresh cigar.
At 0800 I get a call on the radio.
Sanjay is wondering if Mr. Maha is going to show up or if he should…never mind, there he is.
“See you in a few, Rock”, Sanjay says. He and the 24 other crew members will arrive here shortly. Nothing left to do but have a cigar and wait on the coffee.
The ship is beached and there’s a 250-meter exclusion zone around the beast. Cross where the flags are and not have the proper authority or business being there? You either are ejected off the worksite or perhaps into the local hoosegow. Don’t care who you are, no one crosses that line when it’s my watch and show.
So, I go outside and shoo Goodgulf Greyteeth and his cadre of brown shirts away from the ship.
“Good morning, Doctor”, he says smarmily, “Just admiring your handiwork. Wanted to get a good, close look before you demolish all your hard work.”
“Well”, I say, “I really hate to disappoint you, but you and your group need to get behind the flags now. Please, it’s for safety reasons. I can’t afford to have any sort of black marks on my record if one of you trip, catch a sensor, and get blown to smithereens.”
“Now Doctor”, Gulfy primps himself up to his full 5’ 5” height, “You seem to forget who you’re talking to here. I pay your salary…”
“No, Gulfy”, I remark, “You forget that in my contract, which you might pay but have also signed, names me as hookin’ bull, at all active job sites. You also seem to forget that I’m the Motherfuckin’ Pro from Dover, and what I say here is the law. All nice, legal, signed, sealed, and delivered. So, I not only do not care who you are, I have even less interest in what you have to say or what you believe. Now get behind the flags or I’ll have you forcibly ejected. We green?”
Gulfy looks like a whipped puppy. He may be a tiger in the boardroom, but out here, he’s just another fucking observer.
He relents and complies. A low “Green…” was his only word.
To try and assuage any bruised egos, I ask if anyone would like some fresh-brewed coffee.
No one says a word until Gulfy decides that, yes, he’d like a cup of my world-famous coffee.
The rest of his cadre is looking on and view me with such disdain and distrust that they’ll leave the entire pot for their boss.
“OK, your loss”, I say as I walk over to the office and get Gulfy his morning cuppa Joe.
“Here you go”, I said, handing him a travel mug, “Careful, it’s hot.”
He takes a sip, startles, looks at me, sips again and asks what wonderful blend I use to create such a fine cup of morning caffeine delivery system.
I explain the genesis of a Greenland Coffee and he sits back in his specially prepared VIP seat, smiles, and asks one of his minions if he has a cigarette.
“There ya’ go” I say, as I light up a huge breakfast cigar, “Now you’re getting’ the full picture.”
Gulfy looks at me and smiles wider. It seems we’ve had a breakthrough of sorts.
My crew arrives and since I’m just supposed to JAFO this project, well, more or less, I hold the usual morning safety meeting. I remind everyone that the job site is hot and anyone who crosses the flag line better have damn good reason to do so. I also remind them that there miles of wires and kilometers of det cord and Primacord that’s been strung. I also let them know the other name for this stuff: “Tanglefoot”.
“For fuck’s sake, you clodhoppers”, I say as many are still getting used to the idea of closed-toe steel-toed boots or closed-toed shoes of any description, “Watch where the fuck you’re walking. I don’t want anyone yanking out or tripping off a complex series of electrical circuits because they tripped over their own damned feet.”
They all nod, chuckle deferentially and smile wanly. My way of symbolically smacking them upside the head and not leaving a bruise still mystifies them.
“And, hey”, I say as I’m ready to dismiss them, “Let’s be careful out there.”
There’s a general agreement. It’s crossing close to 0900. I ask Gulfy if he and he alone wants to take a look at what’s going on here.
“After all,” I note, “We’re spending a lot of your money.”
Gulfy just smiles at me and replies, “If you are spending my money, I know it will reap great rewards.”
“Holy shit”, I think, “One Greenland Coffee and he’s sloshed.”
I’d best be off and brew up another pot.
Back in the office, I chat with Sanjay and give him the lowdown on the job. He’ll be running the show right after the full-chorus version of the Safety Dance. I’ll be more or less done here then. Out of the picture, I’ll just be on standby until I’m needed again; be that in five minutes or five years.
“Yeah”, I say, “Once they finish the Safety Dance and get out of the way. We’ll begin a countdown. At the call of 5, you hit the big, shiny red button. The rest is all automated, I hope.”
”Hope?” Sanjay asks.
“Fervently”, I reply. “Then once that’s all done and when Gulfy makes his inevitable after-blast crack, you use this”, and I hand him Captain America.
“What’s this?” he asks.
“A little present” I say, “The cording bundles are just to the right of the podium. Red is right, lemon-yellow is left. Hook up and press the first button. Galvanometer. Green. Green for go. Push the big, shiny red button once it lights, and you’ll see and hear some serious shit.”
Sanjay looks at Captain America.
“Use it in good health”, I say, “You’ve earned it.”
Hell, I can always just overhead another at Gulfy’s expense.
Sanjay is cofounded. Captain America, the Portable Electronic Blasting Machine, costs around US$650. He realizes that and he’s never before been presented with such a gift. Culture demands something of equal value in return.
I see his quandary.
“Just keep those fucking greenhorns out here from blowing their damned fingers off”, I say, “That’s payment enough.”
“Will do, Rock!”, Sanjay smiles, choking back the tears. The handshake afterward was particularly hearty and manly.
Suddenly, there’s a knock at the door.
“A knock?”, I ponder, “In a field office?”
“It’s open!” I holler.
Major Nakula Dattachaudhuri walks in.
“I hear there’s going to be quite the show in about 30 minutes, so I thought I’d drop by.” He smiles.
“Major!”, I say rather a bit too loudly, “How the hell are you? I’m so pleased you could be here.”
“Don’t you remember? You invited me.”, he smiles, “It would be…ill-mannered… of me not to take you up on your invitation.”
“Damn glad you could make it, Major. It’s going to be a hell of a show.” I say and see someone has accompanied our major.
“Oh please”, Major Nak says, “You remember my driver, Mr. Ranganekary? I trust there’s no problem him being here as well.”
“Of course not.”, I say, walking over to Agent Ranganekary to shake his hand and welcome him aboard.
We exchange some knowing smirks and both chuckle as we shake hands. “Glad you could also make it.”
“As am I, Doctor Rocknocker of Baja Canada.” He smiles.
“OK. Code. We’re going to have a chat later on, in private.” I note.
“Anytime is fine with me. Right after our little demonstration?” I say.
“Outstanding”, Agent Ranganekary replies with a grin.
“Coffee, gentlemen?” I ask, “Get it while it’s hot.”
It’s now going on 0945. I hit the klaxon to clear the job site. Everyone knows that one tootle indicates we’re 15 minutes out. Two and we’re 10 minutes away. Three and you’d better get the fuck off, out, or down and back beyond the flags. We don’t take headcounts, even though I tried to instigate that procedure. You get caught behind the lines, it’s your own damned fault.
Still, if there was an accident...hell, that’s why they work in teams.
I worry too much.
Two blasts and time’s getting close. I do an impromptu headcount and see everyone’s here and forthrightly accounted. That makes me feel a trifle less nervous. Guess I’ll fire up a cigar as I’m the master of ceremonies for at least the first half of the show. Got to keep up appearances.
The break siren in the yard goes off daily at 1000 hours. Today it announces the beginning of the ‘Dr. Rocknocker & Company Show’.
“If everyone would please take their seats, we will begin,” I say.
There’s a bit of bustling, but most everyone is seated and sorted. We have the Chairman of the Board out here today, the company CEO, several ministers, the town mayor, 25 newly-frocked blasters, the Major and his “driver’, plus another assorted bundle of workers, shop stewards, foremen, crew leaders, and other sorts of gawpers and hangers-on.
Time to schmooze.
“Welcome gentlemen and ladies, if any are present. Anyone here from out of town?” I wait for a chuckle or two. “I am Dr. Rocknocker and have for the last fortnight been training two dozen of your most clever, most impressive, and now most highly trained workers of which your company can boast.”
I make a grand sweeping gesture toward the accumulation and they all take a bow to the thunderous applause.
“Now, we are here to justify the layout of time, money, and energy. See, previously you would attack such a project as this very large cruise ship simply with hundreds of torchbearers. Dangerous, sloppy, and slow. A real waste of manpower, machinery, and materials. It was decided by the powers that be that they would take the chance that I could drag this company, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century. Let’s replace the grunt manpower with chemistry, and let’s better utilize that manpower for something other than simply holding a flaming stick.”
There were nods and smatters of applause.
“So, I now present your first step in, if you’ll excuse my not-so-humble-opinion, the right direction. Gentlemen?”
The 24 newly-frocked ex-cadets expertly split into four teams.
“CLEAR NORTH?”
“NORTH CLEAR!”
And so on around the compass.
TWEET! TWEET! TWEET! Came the melodious tootles of 24 air horns.
“CLEAR?”
“ALL CLEAR!”
I’ve taught my guys well. I am swelling with pride; just a bit.
“किसी बड़े विस्फोट की चेतावनी देना!”
“Kisee bade visphot kee chetaavanee dena!”
“FIRE IN THE HOLE!”
I nod to Sanjay.
“10…9…8…7…6…!” and he hit the big, shiny red button.
Now my skills as a clandestine electrician come to the task.
At number ‘5’, a number 5, 5 meters tall by 3 wide, lights up with the intensity of a new-born sun. There are several, well, five, in fact, muffled explosions in the bowels of the boat.
Remember those 4” vertical pipe-footings I had welded in place? Well, they’re full of 60% Extra Fast dynamite and now detonating in strategically premeditated places. Just a sort of insurance, don’t you know? Priming the pump as it were.
After a few seconds, the millisecond delays, and all that wiring allow a giant number “4” to light up.
More muffled blasts. So far, it’s going great.
“3!” “Kaboom…kaboom…kaboom…”
“2!” “Kaboom…kaboom.”
“1!” and several 4” pipe-fulls of potassium perchlorate, titanium, iron oxide, and magnesium tetraoxide ignite and fill the cove with an unearthly bright white-hot light and sparkles.
“Ohhh…Sparkly!”
After that fades, the number board flashes brilliantly from each corner and the word “GO!” appears in 5m tall x 3m wide letters.
Seconds click by, and people wonder if there was a malfunction.
Malfunction? No. It’s just me being ostentatious.
With a huge “BLAMMO!” the 10 kilos of ANFO I had set in the middle of the number board lights off.
Immediately, all the various leads of detonation cord lights off and travels at 8,000 feet per second to their respective detonic termini. Suddenly, at 25,000 feet per second, kilometer after kilometer of Primacord go off and begin slicing through marine seagoing steel like a hot knife through an order of butter chicken.
It’s pre-etching the cuts we made in the hull, weakening them just a bit more before….
“BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!”
C-4 charges are going off, sequentially, beginning at the bottom of the hull and creeping, at some 15,000 feet per second, up the hull, over the foredeck, and down the hold.
The cuts are quick, clean, and clear. Now, with just a slight nudge…
“KA-MOTHERFUCKING-BOOM DE A-DAH!”
There it is. The 150 kilos of DOUBLEHEIX liquid binary lights off. All at once, bless its blasting velocity.
OK, yes. That was overkill. Why not? My last event here, at least for a while.
But oh, my. What a report. Short, sharp, and shocking.
With a whining screech of tearing metal from the very depths of Vulcan’s volcanic Forge, the entire prow of the once-proud cruise ship gives it up to gravity. With a wrenching rip, slashing snort, and rending rent, it plummets down whole onto the very beach sand before us.
“KER-FUCKING-SMASH!”
The whole area quivers a bit.
Some 450 tons of torn metal, plastic, and wood has just fallen some 10 meters vertically or so.
Gulfy looks up, and raises an index finger.
I smile, raise my remaining index finger, point to Sanjay, and mouth the words “HIT IT!”
He has Captain America primed and ready. He presses the big, shiny red button.
The prow section comes alive. She quivered 'n quaked. An' clutched at herself. As she tremored the beach as she was cut into twelfths.
The prow is being torn asunder from the inside by 60% DuPont Extra Fast Herculene Mining, Quarrying, Fucking Around, and Demolition Dynamite because I’m all soggy with nostalgia and a sucker for the classics.
It’s being ripped apart by explosions of lockers full of AFNO.
A couple of crusty cross-beams yield to several kilos of Kinestix solid binaries.
Some C-4 here, a dab of Tetraamminecopper perchlorate there, a little Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane, a spot of Cyclonite (RDX), a soupçon of PETN, and once the metallic screaming is over, we have pieces of a ship’s prow lying static on the beach in 12 easy pieces.
I turn to the spellbound if not shell-shocked crowd with a goofy smile, a blaze orange hardhat, and a cigar that needs to be relit.
“That, gentlemen, cost approximately $35,000 in both parts and labor. We reduced the ship by 1/9th its length with the expenditure of 25 x 2 man-days and the rest in high explosives. Given that it can take up to 24 months to traditionally scrap one of these cruise liners, I had just demonstrated a method where it can be done in a couple of months, with massively less exposure of your workers to risk, more environmentally friendly, and at a savings of millions of rupees.”
Ok, there was applause when I mentioned, as I closed the formalities.
“And that’s why I’m the Motherfucking Pro from Dover.”
There was applause.
I said “Thank you”, relit my cigar, and strode off the stage.
“My job here is done”, I’m thinking, as I walk back to the office. I was secretly glad it all worked out and also glad I’ll never have to do that kind of ornamental origami with wiring and explosives ever again.
At least until next time.
I go into the air-conditioned office and plop heavily into the desk chair. Stuff the coffee, it’s, well, not Miller time, but it sure as hell is potato-juice-and-citrus time.
Good thing I thought ahead and had a cooler with all the ingredients delivered beforehand.
Of course, there’s a meet and greet after the show. I mention to the dignitaries that have gathered in the office that we need to vacate as I’ve got a swarm of heavy equipment on the way to clear the beach.
“The blaster’s need to get to work on the next slice”, I say and look over to Sanjay who is smiling broadly as well.
We are to reconvene in the boardroom of the company as there will be a catered lunch.
I can hardly wait.
yippee
I spy Mr. Ranganekary over in the corner. I sneak over as well as I can sneak and ask him when he would like to chat.
“Do not worry, Doctor, He assures me, “We will have ample time later. Go attend what needs to attend. Worry not about me, we will have time to talk. Ample time.”
Not knowing what he meant by that, I decide to leave Sanjay in charge, as that’s now his mantle to wear. I fire up the motorcycle that has been so conveniently brought over for me and head back to the barn. I change into a clean set of coveralls but decide that a hardhat and safety harness probably won’t be necessary for a boardroom lunch setting. A box of cigars, on the other hand, well…
It was quite the sumptuous spread. All sorts of a mixed grill, samosas, egg rolls, noodle dishes, finger food, and full slabs of ham, veal, lamb, and roast beef; which I found both curious given the culture but delicious nonetheless. A full open bar was set up and I decided to make the shipbreakers pay for all my extra and subterfugical work. The bartender saw me coming and by the time I made it to his tip jar, yes, they are quick learners, he had already a stout cocktail waiting for me.
I spent the rest of the day answering questions and making certain they had all my banking information correct. I was quite gratified with I received a pair of buzzes on my cell phone telephone where it was my bank telling me of the renewed vigor and turgor in my personal accounts.
I needed to cut loose of this shindig as I needed to pack and also to get my plane tickets. I was leaving on the red-eye express tomorrow at O-dark-30, but haven’t heard a word about ticketing.
“Ah, yes, Doctor; about that,” Gulfy said, somewhat unsteadily. “The airports are still closed in the Middle East and it’s been impossible for us to sort out your departure tickets.”
“Yes?” The fuse was lit. I wanted out of here. You’re not going to use this Corona craziness as some sort of ruse to keep me here, you sawed-off son of a …
“So we have arranged for a private jet to take you to Dubai”, he smiled, “If that’s acceptable.”
Anger evaporated. “Sure, I suppose that will work.”
“At your disposal”, Gulfy said, “Major Nakula Dattachaudhuri will accompany you.”
“Ah!” The penny, once again, drops. “So glad to have you along, Major!”
“And his driver?’ I wonder.
I left the soiree after shaking the hands, exchanging business cards, and pledging to stay in touch with what seemed like a veritable platoon of people. Some will be high on my re-contact list as they might just have a few little odd jobs for me. It seems that there were representatives of other shipbreaking companies in attendance.
“Well”, I supposed, “If nothing else, I do like their hospitality and willingness to pay through the nose.”
Back at the Raj, all my clothes, except for what I was wearing, were cleaned, pressed and ready to be packed. I allowed the floor maids into my room while I rustled up a fresh cocktail and watch them pack my aluminum hard-cases like the consummate professionals they were.
They spoke no English, I no Hindi, but the wads of rupees I passed over to them spoke volumes. They deserved it. I could go to work and not even spare a thought about domestic duties. These gals, and guys, here did so for me without so much as “Oh, I need a…”
After shooing them out, I called the Majordomo and asked when the jet would be ready. He told me anytime I was.
“Well, fuck this”, I said, “Es won’t be in Dubai for a few days. There’s no reason to rush. Let’s plan for a morning flight at 0600 tomorrow? Green?”
Mr. Kanada agreed on my choice of color. He would leave a wakeup call for me at 0430. He would alert all other concerned parties as well.
I loved that. ‘All other concerned parties’.
“Ha, Mr. America’s Hat, your choice of terminology belies your ulterior motives” I think.
“That’s fine.” I said, “I’ll be in repose this evening; many things to consider before returning to launch point. I’ll be awaiting my wake up call.”
Before I get all unclothed and comfortable, I call the kitchen and order up one of the sandwiches I’ve taught them to make during my stay. Fresh bialy roll, lightly toasted, strips of ham, roast beef, melting cheese, some grilled onions, and green peppers. A cheesesteak of sorts, but I like mine with swiss and paneer rather than provolone.
“Oh, and send up some ice and a bottle of White Mischief 101 if you would be so kind. Also, some sliced limes and Bitter Lemon, if you have them.” I add.
Not 15 minutes later, I’m finishing off the sandwich and refreshing my drink. I’ve already called Es and told her of my belated departure. She’s pleased that now I won’t have so long to stay at the hotel alone and get into trouble.
“If she only knew…” I mused.
“Hell.” I remembered, “She does know! Fuck. I’m such a damned Boy Scout”
I haven’t chatted with Rack and Ruin for days and I figured they’re beside themselves. I break down and figure as long as I’m leaving tomorrow, I’d spill the beans, yank their chains, rattle their cages, and poke them in the snoot, all metaphorically, of course.
I ring their office numbers and I get that they are “in dispose” and if I leave a message, “they will return my call at their earliest convenience.”
“Aw, fuck.”, I think, “They’re off on some sort of mission or job or whatever the fuck they do when they’re not bothering me. Ah, well. I tried.”
I left them a message consisting mostly of “Priviet, comrades!”, "Workers of the world, unite!", and “Nostrovia!”. Y’know, the usual sophomoric attempts at political and social satire and humor.
I also tried to not let it bother me too great that they weren’t available as I settled back into the Jacuzzi with a new cigar, a large fresh drink, and this month’s issue of “The Quarrymaster.”
The night progressed as nights do. It was dark, sudsy, and quiet. I finally caved in around 2300 hours and plopped into the acre-sized bed. I slept the sleep of the overtly righteous until exactly 0430.
“Thanks”, I croak into the phone and drop the receiver back into its cradle.
“Time to motivate”, I remind myself. I hot the opulent shower one last time, erase a couple of shower scotches, and steam up the whole room so much it looks like the windows are bleeding from the inside.
“Damn, it’s positively tropical in here”, I growl as I dress in my travel finest. The usual field outfit, but this time with orange and green argyle socks from Scotland.
There’s actually a Pringle of Scotland brick and mortar store here in Alang. These socks were the best worst color and design I could find. I tried to find blaze orange ones, but oddly I was informed “there wasn’t much call for that around these parts, Squire.”
Maybe next time.
I called the room clerk and almost immediately, there was a knock at my door. Evidently Mr. Kanada, the Majordomo alerted the staff of my itinerary. It makes me almost feel bad I left that faux crate of dynamite in his room.
But he should have known better to snoop around on me. I hope all he gets out of it is a skip on his electrocardiogram. Anything else, and I might have to place some calls and own up to my tomfoolery.
My luggage, except for my field pack is loaded on a cart and I was assured it will be in the gray Ventura limo in the garage anytime I wish to leave. I tell the doorman that I appreciate that and slip him 500 rupees.
I need to go through that time-honored and exasperating event now when one checks out of a long term stay facility. Tips for everyone. C’mon, it’s not like you can’t afford a little largesse now, you old sod.
I leave fat-stuffed envelopes for the room matrons, which I had Sanjay address for me the other day. They deserve it. That room was insanely clean, well-stocked, and above all comfortable.
More tips for the room captains, bellhops, bartenders, cooks, cleaners, hell, if you aren’t a guest here, you get a tip. That makes it so much easier.
Down at breakfast I decide to forego a heavy meal and just snack on a few of their wonderful grilled breakfast sausages and a cup or two of my ‘special blende’ coffee.
After checking out the headlines in the reading room, I go to the bar where all my Emergency Travel Flasks are topped off and I gratefully accept a “Visit Alang” thermos cup full of my favorite libation in the entire cosmos.
A free drink.
Just so happens that his is one of cold potato juice and freshly squeezed lime juice with a splash of soda. A new Rocknocker variant that goes in the “Big Book of Favorite Cocktails”.
After shaking hands with everyone, I see it’s gone around to 0500. Time to get a move on myself.
Over to the one gray Ventura limo that’s idling in the garage and see its Major Nakula Dattachaudhuri in the back with Mr. Ranganekary as the driver.
“Well”, I smile, “That’s convenient. One-stop. No waiting.”
“Indeed, Doctor”, Major Nak replies, “Shall we?”
I smile crookedly to Mr. Ranganekary as I wish him a gracious good morning and pile into the back of the vehicle.
“I see you have all the absolute necessities”, Major Nak laughs as he notes my garish travel mug and a pocketful of cigars. He plucks one of the cigars from my vest pocket and looks at me line “May I?”
“Of course”, I smile back.
I ask Mr. Ranganekary if he’d like one and he replies, “Thanks. I already have some on the plane.”
“Well” I note, “There’s that question answered.”
With no traffic to speak of other than the usual delivery trucks driven by essential employees, we make great time to the airport.
Past the main gate, past departures, past shipping and receiving and past anything that looks like a terminal building. There it is, the same old shack where I was greeted into this county. We park and I go to take my passport for its usual departure tattooing.
Major Nak asks for my passport. He says he’ll handle the departure formalities. He also says he’ll meet us back on the plane. I’m not terribly keen on relinquishing my passport to anyone, but if you can’t trust a major in the Indian Armed Forces, who can you trust?
We wheel up to the same Gulfstream G700 jet that brought me here. Now, instead of Seoul to India, it’s India to Dubai, UAE. It’s just a puddle jump across the Indian Ocean, some 3.5 hours in duration.
“Guess I’d better get started”, I say, and take a long, healthy pull on my drink.
Thus sated, I’m up the steps and into the forward left-hand seat of the aircraft. Agent Ranganekary takes the seat behind me and within a few minutes, Major Rak arrives, hands me my passport, and asks if I need anything.
“Well”, I said, shaking my now empty Alang thermal mug, “It is sure hot and thirsty out there.”
Major Nak smiles, nods his head, and says loudly: “Dusty as well. Vijaya!”
Vijaya appears out of the back with an expertly crafted and exquisitely large drink for me. Major Nak looks at me, looks at my drink, and shakes his head. He asks Vijaya for a hot Earl Grey tea, with milk instead.
He looks at me, looks at my drink once more, and says “No way. I vaguely remember the last time...”
I just smile, grin, and sit back to enjoy what I could really get used to as a means of transportation.
The flight was smooth, pleasurable, and uneventful. We were up at 57,000’ again and pushing the bitter edge of the sound barrier at Mach 0.93.
We were in Dubai International, at the military end of the airport, within 3 hours and 19 minutes.
A large SUV cab arrives and tarmac workers begin stuffing all my gear into the back. I note a haversack and one lonely carry-on joined the pile.
It seems that Major Nak and Mr. Ranganekary were going to spend a day or two in Dubai as well.
It seems they were going to stay at the Four Seasons Hotel as well.
It seems to me that something might just be up.
To be continued.
submitted by Rocknocker to Rocknocker [link] [comments]

“Well mate, you do what you gotta do, and I’ll do what I gotta do.” ..a Sparkies Tale.

Ages ago, Rural Australia.
(If you like a roasted chicken from a big chain supermarket, maybe skip this tale. It does involve some Thermal Physics though. Which is always nice.)
Our electrical company was one of the largest in the region, installing/maintaining/repairing a wide variety of equipment and power solutions. It was common for us to get contracted by agents far-away to look at/look after gear.
This tale takes place in the Deli Department of a National Supermarket Chain (NSC). We had been sub-sub-sub contracting at this store for over 5 years.
It involves “Bryan”, the new-ish Deli Manager, and convection ovens. The two ovens in this store were commercial quality, ~$35k each, and could turn out 40 whole chickens each in about 1.5hrs. Cooked Chooks were these ovens main gig. With regular cleaning during shift, they could bake about 480 golden-browns in 12 hours. Without cleaning between cooks, that number goes to around 600.
Bryan had been the manager for about 6 months, and was out to make a name. That name would turn out to be “wanker”, but he thought he was Gods Gift. Not long after he started, the ovens went to doing the 600, and had been having issues.
I’d gotten to know these ovens well, had done the manufacturers service tech training, and was the main repairer of them. (I say ‘repairer’, because the store had decided to forego the recommended service schedule way before Bryan arrived. Chicken fat was part of my life. Delightful.)
Story
One Tuesday morning, I had a call to go look at Oven 1. I’d had a job on this oven the week before, and ended up unblocking all the steam sensor lines. (Again.) We had a standing order to inspect both ovens at any visit, for anything that might be a safety concern. Both ovens needed a deep, deep clean at the time, the cooking chambers having buildups of chicken fat in places. I’d seen worse, but these were getting there.
I made Bryan and the Store Manager (lazy dickhead) aware, took photos of both ovens for my report, and told them about the hazards of not cleaning them. (Again.) I also told them that the conditions of the ovens were maybe getting close to me padlocking/tagging them out as unsafe to operate. (This was in line with a NSC State Office directive to service contractors.)
(Cooking chickens with circulating steam will create buildups of aerosolised fat all inside the cooking chamber. This would normally be cleaned between cooks, and the whole oven thoroughly after shift. If not cleaned, and allowed to build up, it can catch on fire. On fucking fire. Yeah. Go clean your oven later.)
This visit to Oven 1 would reveal a buggered 3phase fan motor, rendering it unusable until a replacement could be fitted, in about 5 days time. Not only would it not cook 1500 chickens in that time, but the thawing chickens to go in it would be wasted too, per policy.
So, a week had gone by and the ovens weren’t cleaned. It was almost like they didn’t believe my warnings..
Me (to Bryan, while I’m finishing locking/tagging out the power isolator on Oven 1) - “You know, Oven 2 really should get cleaned right away. If it breaks down while this one is out of action, that’s .. ” (I get cut off)
Bryan (being a bit dismissive) - “We’re too busy. Mate, to keep up I’m on opens all this week. I’ll get it done when it slows down in a couple of weeks.” (He walks off to the cold room)
Me (following) - “Ok, look. Here’s what’s we can do. I’ll swing by first thing in the morning and have a look. If it’s not clean enough, I’m going to lock it out until you call and say it’s cleaned. Then I can come look and take the lock off.”
Bryan (getting chickens ready to go in the oven) - “Well mate, you do what you gotta do, and I’ll do what I gotta do.”
(Per my training, I didn’t technically have to lock it out yet. It was bad, but I didn’t think it was dangerous just yet. His comment sealed my actions though.)
Out sitting in the car, after writing my report on the iPad and getting the new motor underway, I preemptively write out 3 ‘Danger’ tags. He is, after all, like so many wankers I’ve dealt with in the past. (Also, I like writing on Danger Tags. The marker makes nice squeaking sounds.)
About 7am the next morning, with my tags and lockout kit, I go have a look. Oven 2 has finished a cook cycle and the door is open. Bryan is getting more chickens ready to go in as someone else bags the ready ones. I see it hasn’t been cleaned at all. Baked on chicken skin in the drain, the steam vent almost blocked, blackened fat deposits and bits of chicken meat in the cooking chamber. All the stainless steel has a brown patina. Fucking filthy.
(I don’t know if you’ve had to apply lockout/tagout before. Usually it’s just a straightforward affair, part of doing a job. But when I get to apply them, when I know it’s going to really piss off a wanker, I get this kind of manic glee. Especially if that wanker had to sign off during induction about locks/tags. Also, “I got the Power” plays in my head)
After I turn the isolator off to Oven 2, and the lock is ready to snap shut..
Me (in the direction of the cold room) - “Bryan! Hey Bryan!”
He comes out, sees me looking at him (it’s hard not to smile), sees the lock.. Click
Bryan (as I’m applying tags to the isolator and oven power switch) - “Mate, come on. I’ll clean it now and you can come look later.”
Me (not believing a word) - “No worries mate. Give me a call when it’s ready and I can come take the lock off.”
I head out to the big electrical switchboard and lock/tag the 3phase circuit breaker for the oven. (This wasn’t necessary for the oven lockout, but I had a suspicion about Bryan.) Then I take photos of all my handy work, and go tell Store Manager the situation. He says he’ll sort it out.
Out in the car, before I go to the next job, my suspicion prompts me to prepare an email.
About 3pm I get a call from the store. Store Manager asks that I come down. He’s vague on the details.
Standing in front of Oven 2s open glass door, I see an amazing sight. Dictionary-definition amazing.
Thermal Physics: Take an already very-hot cooking chamber. Have just the right combination of blocked/partially blocked passages air might escape the cooking chamber. Add a goodly amount fire. Open the oven door just far enough, and for just the right amount of time. This introduces the stores cold air conditioning. The fire will flash nicely. Now close the oven door..
You just made a vacuum implosion! (how cool is science) All 5 of the cooking chambers stainless steel inner walls were buckled in about 50mm/2” each. It was fucking glorious to behold. Truely. I couldn’t not take pictures of this magnificence. But, the best was yet to come.
I go and take pictures of the removed tags, cut off locks, and discarded lockout device from the circuit breaker. I add them to the email, along with the vacuumed oven photos, and some more words. Then I go and round up Bryan and Store Manager for a chat. Bryan, it turns out, went and got some bolt cutters just after I’d left the store. He was the one cooking chickens when the fire started and opened the door. I add all this to the report. (b-Ryan started the fire! Yes, I called him Bryan for this moment.)
I show them my iPad, and the list of recipients. Then hit send. The report details all the times I’ve told these guys about cleaning the ovens, the fire/safety hazard involved, and why scheduled maintenance is a thing. And the very clear pictures of everything. The list of recipients includes each step of the sub-sub-sub relationship, as well as the email addresses of the National, State and Regional Service Managers from NSC. It’s also copied to Worksafe (OSHA).
Store Manager (looking at Bryan) - “...”
Bryan (just standing there, looking like the wanker he was) - “I didn’t ..”
Store Manager - “Just shut up.”
—-
My boss said I over-stepped our role as sub-sub-sub contractors with the email. I say those fuckwits could have really hurt someone. He agrees, but I’m still in the dog house for a while. Fair enough. Fuck me, it was worth it though.
The NSC, Store Manager and Bryan all got fines from Worksafe. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in total. Worksafe made an example of them all and did ‘an Oprah’.
Store Manager and Bryan got fired.
I have some lovely photos of science in action. I also learned to lockout dirty ovens earlier than I did that day.
The manufacturers paid to have the imploded oven shipped back to them when supplying the new one. Speaking with the guy who trained me, it sits in their workshop. A now clean and gleaming testament to appliance care and preventative maintenance.
Thank you for reading.
—-
Notes:
submitted by OlderSparky to OlderSparky [link] [comments]

Seeking suggestions, advice, and corrections regarding tentative plans for new radio room

Seeking suggestions, advice, and corrections regarding tentative plans for new radio room
Hello amateurradio,
Soon, I'm going to be undertaking the exciting opportunity of moving to a new QTH. I'll be getting a fresh start on building a radio room from scratch - within the allowances of the XYL, of course. :) Soon, I want to start getting into HF, but still being relatively new to the hobby and not as practiced as I probably should be, I'm finding myself a bit overwhelmed by all the information out there, especially information pertaining to safety and grounding. What I'd like to do at this point is share my current understanding with the community, and ask for advice, suggestions, improvements, and outright corrections for those things I'll get blatantly wrong along the way.
One of my goals is to strike a balance between neatness and functionality in the new room. I want my radio room to be neat, but I also want to make sure my equipment and family are properly taken care of. That's not such an unreasonable desire, is it? :) Numerous sources, including the ARRL (of which I am not yet a member but will be soon), stress the importance of grounding my equipment (on the flip side, some operators like WB2WIK do not). For the sake of neatness, I would like to run my groundwires and antenna cables through my walls and attic, and expose them using bulkhead connectors on wall plates, so that the antenna cables appear to have been built in to the house like good ole RG6 for TV. This diagram describes my initial goal, to establish an improved version of the 2m/70cm functionality I already have:
​
Phase 1 Goal
You'll notice that my radio room will most likely be an interior room, and that my cable runs are likely to be somewhat close to where my breaker panel is. I also tried to put together another diagram depicting the south side of the house with my ideas sketched in:
​
Southwest Corner
My biggest concern with this setup is the proposed length of my ground wire failing to ground RF. You'll find numerous articles scattered throughout the internet stressing the requirement of a single-point ground (preventing ground loops, keeping with code, etc), hence my motivation to use the outdoor ground rod to begin with. Fortunately, this article proposes a solution ("Alternative 2") consisting of a coaxial ground cable with a capacitor like this one placed between the center and shield.
​
Grounding solution Proposed in Aforementioned Link
That brings me to my first actual question: is it preferable for me to run this ground cable all the way out to my ground rod, or would terminating it in my nearby breaker panel be acceptable?
Next, I'd like to discuss my antenna. Although my transceiver uses an SO-239 connector, I intend to expose an N-type connector on my wall, with LMR-400 run through the wall and attic to a lightning arrestor bonded to my ground rod. I'll just use another cable that has an N-type connector on one end and a PL-259 on the other to complete the run from the wall to the transceiver. My antenna is a Diamond X50-NA, and I intend to mount it on my roof using a tripod. Can other operators offer advice regarding keeping these exterior cable runs neat and tidy? Also, is it desirable to connect a groundwire from the metal antenna mast to my ground rod?
Once I crimp or solder a connector to a coax cable, what's the best way to test that cable and make sure its functioning well? And what advice does the community have regarding making that connection weather resistant? Weather resistance is, in fact, my motivation behind using the Type-N connector on VHF/UHF, since the connector has a small gasket inside it.
In the future, I'll want to make cable runs for an HF antenna as well, the exact nature of which I haven't decided upon yet. My biggest goal is to keep cable runs off my lawn, so that the lawn can be mowed without affecting the functionality of my station. I may seek out an end-fed antenna like the MFJ-1984MP, and create a sort of inverted vee running from my roof to a tree across the back yard. Of course, the 1984p has a ground connector, which I imagine I'll also want to bond to my ground rod. I'm also considering being a "hidden ham" and hanging a dipole in my attic... But HF is a much more distant goal - my initial focus after I move will be getting back to where I am now, with 2m/70cm functionality.
One final element I'd like to share - I also intend to run Ethernet cable through some of the same holes I'll drill through the top-plates. Have any operators experienced issues with Ethernet and antenna cable being in close proximity?
​
I'd like to close out by saying, I'm thrilled to be faced with the new adventures ahead of me. My ambitions are lofty - I want to create a robust, safe, reliable, extendable, and fun operating environment for both myself and some friends I'm trying to get interested in the hobby. I mainly want to make sure that what I've gathered from the absolute firehose of information available online in a relatively short time is, at least, on the right track, and sounds sensible, practical, safe, and sane to other operators who are more experienced than I.
Thanks for sticking with me, looking forward to hearing y'all's thoughts. 73!
submitted by ads1031 to amateurradio [link] [comments]

Arc Flash Safety

Arc Flash Safety
What is an arc flash assessment (or study or analysis)?
Blue Runner Switchgear will collect electrical system data, model your system using power system software, analyze the results, and document the findings in a report. Site specific and equipment specific arc flash hazard warning labels will be printed and installed at your facility following the guidelines of IEEE Standard 1584 - Guide for Performing Arc-Flash Hazard Calculations and the latest edition of NFPA 70E - Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace.
What is an electrical arc flash?
An arc flash is not the same as electrical shock. Shock hazards are associated with current flowing through the body. Arc flash hazards happen when current flows through air in an unintended and dangerous way with an explosion of heat and energy.
Who is responsible for arc flash safety?
• OSHA requires employers to identify and communicate workplace hazards. Arc flash safety was first introduced by the NFPA in 1995 and employers should consider arc flash safety a high priority.
• Each individual is responsible for their own safety and actions.
submitted by bluerunnerswitchgear to u/bluerunnerswitchgear [link] [comments]

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT TYPES OF SAFETY TRAINING EMPLOYEES NEED?

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT TYPES OF SAFETY TRAINING EMPLOYEES NEED?
If you’re not a classically trained safety expert, it can be difficult to create a training program that covers all of the safety training needs at your company and thoroughly protects the most important part of your company, the employees. How do you know what safety training employees at your organization needs? The short answer is this: it depends on your industry, location, and the hazards present in the workplace. Here’s what you need to do to account for all of those factors and protect workers:
​
https://preview.redd.it/ccycmrfq90q51.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=1fd3df85634ec5d5ac5149b8dbd50b554f701ec5

LEARN THE REGULATIONS

Your organization will be subject to regulations at the federal, state, and local level. Some of these regulations will apply to all workplaces, and some will be industry specific. Ask the following questions as you research applicable safety regulations:
  • Which federal regulations or OSHA standards apply to our industry?
  • Which federal regulations or OSHA standards apply to the hazards present in our workplace?
  • What local regulations apply to our industry or hazards present in our workplace?
  • What state regulations apply to our industry or hazards present in our workplace?
  • What personal protective equipment (PPE) is required for our processes?
  • Have we ever received citations or been in violation of safety regulations? Which ones?
  • What environmental regulations apply to our industry and operations?

LEARN YOUR ORGANIZATION

If you’ve been tasked with creating a training program, but you don’t work in operations (perhaps you work in management or Human Resources), you may not have a complete understanding of what your company does and how safety training requirements may apply. Go out onto the production floor and talk with employees in all areas of the company to gather information. The answers to the questions below will provide you with some insight on the things employees will need training on.
  • What hazards are present in our workplace?
  • Do employees work with machinery? Electricity? Radiation? Chemicals?
  • What emergency plans does the company have in place for fire? Severe weather? Workplace violence?
  • Medical emergencies?
  • Do any employees require specialized or job-specific safety training?
  • Does our company use any equipment which requires special training?
  • Do we have any employees who drive as part of their job responsibilities?
  • Which types of accidents or injuries have occurred in our workplace in the past?

RE-EVALUATE REGULARLY

Things will change within your industry, company, and within legislation, so you’ll need to update your training to accommodate those changes. At any time a new chemical may be introduced into a process, new machinery may be acquired, or laws may be enacted to more strictly control your industry. Set up a schedule to review applicable regulations and current company operational practices to determine if additional training is necessary.
Safety training is an integral part of ensuring employee safety, which is always the top priority, as well as ensuring regulatory compliance. To know the types of training workers in your business will need, be sure to familiarize yourself with regulations at all levels, understand what’s being done within your organization, and review those things regularly for any relevant changes.
Safety Training has courses on the important federal safety regulations that apply to your organization. Contact us to find out how our safety training learning management system can provide the right training solution for your company.
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DEMOLITION DAYS, PART *Spirit of* 76

That reminds me of a story.
“Look you dopey bastard! I’m not telling you again! This goes here, that goes there.”
No job is worth all this aggro…
OK, let’s rewind a bit here.
It’s been some months since I had returned from my triumphant de-mining tour of the American Southwest.
Dr. Harold Klöten in Albuquerque has sent along glowing reports to Agents Rack and Ruin at the Agency about me and Dr. Evana Nachimaw’s little 4-Corners adventures. We had accomplished nearly 100 mine closures in the space of just a few weeks. Many were complete mine closures and many others were closures for those winged, little, squeaky, fluttering-bastard bug-biters.
Dr. Eva and I both received official certificates of appreciation from the BIA, BLM, and DOI, along with a nice little honorarium above and beyond our initial agreements.
However, Dr. Harry still had a few questions for me about the volumes of explosives I had submitted in my reports. I explained that away by citing talc mines, icky skeletonized bat colonies, and my enthusiasm to do a full and proper job.
Oh, of course, I had some 'leftover’ bits and pieces. Some remnant spools of Primacord, a bit of Torpex, a couple of boxes of blasting caps, a plunger detonator, some leftover HELIX, and a few boxes of millisecond delay super-boosters.
As I said, just some extraneous bits and pieces; nothing out of the ordinary.
“Nothing untoward” I explained.
Dr. Harry was OK with that. In fact, more than OK with that. Seems he had a little favor to ask of me.
“OK, Harry. Shoot.” I said.
“Well, Doctor, he says, “We are all very well satisfied with you and Dr. Eva’s work in the Southwest.”
“Thanks again,” I reply, “So what’s the favor?”
“Ah,” he continues, “There are a group of concerned bureaus that would be more than appreciative if you could see your way clear to not only create a monograph outlining the proper modes and methodologies in remediating old, abandoned mines...”
“Oh, yes,” I replied, “Not a problem. No problem at all.”
“…and,” he continues, “If you could possibly embark on one more field project, training others in the methods you’ve developed and deployed.”
“Dr. Klöten,” I said, “That might be somewhat of a bit of a smidge of a tiny little problem.”
“How’s that?” he asked.
“Well, I have been offered a lucrative appointment overseas.” I replied, “It’s a full-on Expat position. If I decide to pursue it, I’d be out of the country literally for years.”
“Oh, I see.” he said, “How unfortunate. It’s just that you already have the experience. You already have the education. And you already have some of the leftover pyrotechnics…”
Nothing like a little thinly-veiled extortion.
“Um. Yeah,” I replied...
Cue some long-distance silence while that sunk in.
“Well, Dr. Harry,” I said, “Seems you might be in luck. It will take quite some time for me to obtain a working visa for the country to which I’m currently debating on relocating. What with my security clearance and all.”
“Oh, that is good news,” he relates. I’ll send you the job description and prospectus for the project. Let me say from the onset, it will be slightly different from your initial assignment. But also let me add, I think you’ll prefer these changes.”
“OK, Harry,” I note, “Please send the particulars to me. I cannot guarantee anything, I do need to clear it with the powers that be.”
“Certainly,” he says, “Nonetheless, I thought you were an independent contracting consultant?”
“Oh, yes. I am.,” I reply, “But I’m still quite married.”
Harry chuckles and promises to send me all the dope on this next possible potential project.
“Humph.,” I fume as we disconnect, “Try to do a good job. Do a few favors. Be the ‘nice guy’. The road to Hell’s very much paved with bureaucracy and good intentions.”
Time has progressed some since my last field project. Khris is still horse crazy and doing very well in her studies. She’s also taking Dressage lessons out at a nearby Katy ranch. She’ll be at least a few months before she finishes this segment of her training in handling the nickering beasts.
Tash’s doing great since her aural tubes. No further ear infections and she is quite a bit happier, as are we all, with the results. She’s shown a great aptitude in geometric spatial relationships and is becoming quite the little artist. We have decided that she needs some slightly more structured schooling and have her enrolled at a Magnet Montessori school that’s in the vicinity.
With the kiddos off being schooled during the day, with the additional after-school activities; this has given Esme, my lovely and ambitious wife, a bit of free time during the day.
With that, she and our neighbor, Patricia, have set up shop in what used to be my garage workshop. Pat, as she prefers to be known, is terribly keen on stained glass. She creates custom windows and such that she has been selling at local weekend craft shows and flea markets.
Esme, being a geologist, don’t forget; has taken a predilection to lapidary and creating jewelry as well as other objets d'art out of my rock collection.
Her work has received rave reviews when Pat has dragged her to some of the local craft shows and persuaded Es to take along a few of her nicer pieces. This ignited the fuse that leads to Esme commandeering my carpentry workshop and converting it into her very own lapidary factory.
She’s taken over the whole garage, so both our vehicles would now languish in the sultry Texas summer sun. Not caring for that, I had a carport installed.
Of course, she’s appropriated my radial arm saw, now with ghastly expensive diamond-carbide cutting wheels, drill press, and all my rock handling gear that I don’t immediately need in the field. Over time, I’ve purchased a liquid-cooled cut-off saw for her, a custom rock lathe, several rock tumblers, a lapidary flat-vibratory table, a wax station, and many other bits of implements for her to annoy and exploit rocks.
She’s gotten so involved in all this, that my rock collection is screaming in horror every time she heads off to a craft show. With my connections though, I’ve obtained several unique and exotic rocks for her to play with so she leaves at least a few micro-mounts in my collection.
She’s out in her shop currently creating a Siberian omphacite vase for a special order she took on during her last craftworks soiree. The Alaskan komatiite vase she displayed during the last show brought quite the pretty penny indeed.
Rock dust is flying everywhere. I had to invest in a garage dust-eater so we could avoid the dreaded pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
“Hello, dear,” I say over the din of the lathe.
“Hey, hon,” she replies. “What’s up?”
“Can you kill the lathe for a bit?” I ask, “We need to have a confab.”
“Where are you headed now?” she asks as the lathe spins down.
“I should never even attempt to surprise you,” I say in resignation.
“Very wise, Herr Doctor,” she smiles.
“I’ve been talking with Dr. Harry at the DOI in Albuquerque.” I reply, “He’s got a special one-off for me. Probably a bit longer than the previous project.”
“Oh?” Es asks.
“Yep,” I note.
“And…?” she demands.
“That’s the funny bit,” I say, “He didn’t tell me much, just that this time, it’s going to be a working training mission.”
“I see,” she says, “Let’s go inside. I need a cold drink. The way it looks, you could use one as well.”
Of course, since we were both out in the garage for almost a full 15 minutes, Lady greets our return like we’ve been on extended leave in the Congo.
The cat gazes at us from her perch on my aquarium, yawns, and goes back to sizing up the Jack Dempseys.
Stupid cat.
Es grabs a cold sun tea, unsweetened. I opt for a brisk glass of potato juice fresh from the freezer.
“Well, Es, my darling,” I begin.
“Rock, hold on,” she says.
“Yes?” I reply, expecting the worst.
“Pat’s got me set up for at least three more shows before the end of summer.” She notes. “I’ve got quite a few commissions and I can’t just bail on them. Besides, I really like the freedom of working again and bringing in a little extra cash.”
“Which hasn’t made a dent in the bills for your new lapidary paraphernalia,” I say quietly.
“Um, yes.” she smiles in that way that just makes me melt and go all squidgy inside.
“Rock, I was going to bring this all up a bit later.” she continues, “But I’d really like for us to hold off on that Arab sandpit job for a while.”
“Really?” I ask, completely flummoxed by the direction this conversation has taken.
“Oh, yes!” she brightly replies, “The kids are have settled in to their agendas and are doing so well. Tash with her art, and Khris with her horses. Plus, I really enjoy doing something creative again.”
“I see,” I replied
“Hmmm.” I hmmmed.
“Oh, yes.” she readily agrees, “It’d be a shame to yank them out now and have them start all over. Especially being so far away from all their friends.”
“You’re really going to play the ‘friends’ card?” I chuckle.
“Well, it’s the truth.” Es smiles, “Plus, I’m really getting back into geology once again. It makes me feel like I didn’t waste all those years obtaining a degree. Besides that, I like doing this. It’s given me a creative outlet.”
“Once again,” I note, “You’ve completely confounded me. All the arguments I had ready so I could go out into the field; trashed.”
“You said it’d take some time to arrange visas for overseas,” she reminds me.
“True enough,” I add. “Look, let’s see what Dr. Harry has in store. If we can make it work, timewise, I’ll put off the Middle East until we’re all already. If they don’t like that, well, tough tits on them.”
“Oh, Herr Doctor,” Es gushes overmuch, hugging the stuffing out of me, “You always make it work out for us.”
“Yep. That’s me,” I snicker, “Doctor Do-It-All for everyone.”
Es returns to her rock torturing and I sit there at the dining room table, sipping my drink and wondering why I don’t have a cigar.
Two days later, a thick packet arrives for me via a special courier. It’s from the DOI and Dr. Harry.
I retire to my office, open it, and begin to read.
It’s going to be another DI/DO [Drive in/Drive Out] exercise, this time solely in the state of Nevada.
Now, Nevada’s a bit different than the other states where Dr. Eva and I went out to save the bats and the local world from itself.
First, the geology’s a nightmare.
Mountain ranges in Nevada, commonly about 10 miles wide and rarely longer than 80 miles, are separated by valleys. The geologic structure that controls this basin-and-range topography is dominated by faults of all varieties. Nearly every mountain range is bounded on at least one side by a fault that has been active, with large earthquakes, during the last 1.6 million years.
For the last several million years, these faults have raised and occasionally tilted the mountains and lowered the basins. Over the years, these basins have filled with sediments that are derived from erosion of the mountains and that are locally tens of thousands of feet thick.
Most faults are normal, although some are strike-slip faults. The most apparent zone of strike-slip faults in Nevada is in a 50-mile wide swath, the Walker Lane. These northwest-trending faults are accommodating part of the motion between the Pacific Plate, which is moving relatively northwest, and the North American Plate, which is moving relatively southeast. The famous San Andreas Fault takes up most of the motion between these two plates.
The generally north-south trend of mountain ranges in most of Nevada transforms into northwest-trending ranges.
Most, but not all, ore deposits in Nevada, and therefore mines, are associated with igneous activity. In some cases, metals came from the magmas themselves, and in other cases, the magmas provided heat for circulation of hot water that deposited metals in veins and fractured sedimentary rocks.
Some spectacular mineral specimens occur in ore deposits that formed when magmas intruded and metamorphosed sedimentary rocks. Even today, driven locally by deep circulation along faults and perhaps locally by igneous activity, hot water shows up in numerous active geothermal areas.
Nevada is the nation’s leading producer of silver, barite, mercury, and lithium. Much of the silver is a co-product or by-product of gold production, and all the mercury currently produced is a by-product of precious metal recovery. Lithium is extracted from brine that occurs in Tertiary valley-filling sediments.
Other commodities that are currently mined in Nevada include gypsum, limestone (for cement and lime), clays, salt, magnesite, diatomite, silica sand, dimension stone, and crushed rock, sand, and gravel for construction aggregate. In the past, Nevada has been a significant producer of copper, lead, zinc, tungsten, molybdenum, and fluorite.
The upshot to this is that nearly all the mining done in Nevada, today and the past, was ‘hard-rock’ mining.
As a personal aside, Nevada also produces some oil, although production is small relative to that in major oil states. An interesting aspect of Nevada petroleum production is that some of the oil is associated with hydrothermal fluids [hot water], although lower in temperature but otherwise much like the geothermal fluids that formed gold and silver deposits.
Another curiosity is that some of the oil is trapped in fractured volcanic rocks, although the ultimate source of the petroleum was from organic matter in sedimentary rocks. Most of the oil has come from the eastern part of the state.
Back to mining, according to the Nevada Division of Minerals, there are around 200,000 abandoned mines, some 50,000 of which pose serious public safety hazards. Thousands of Nevada's abandoned mines are on public land simply because most of the state is under federal jurisdiction of one type or another. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages almost 48 million acres of Nevada's public lands. Hence their eagerness for me and my past BLM, BIA, and DOI mine remediation experience.
Another difference in Nevada is that there are a much greater concentration of unsafe structures around abandoned mine sites. These include headframes, old buildings, equipment scattered about, ore cart rails, and tailings piles. It is also noted that it is against Federal and state law to take any items you find from public lands that may be cultural, historical, or archaeological artifacts; so no blowing up old mining camps.
According to a recent study by the BLM, Nevada has at least 10,648 physical safety hazard sites, which is the highest of any state. This estimate is low, as much of the state has yet to be inventoried.
It’s a veritable Wally World of potential death.
Nevada’s Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Program is focused on mitigating potential human health and ecological concerns associated with contamination from legacy heavy metal mining operations (inactive or abandoned mine lands).
AML sites operated generally from the 1860s through the late-20th century on both public and private lands within the state. AML sites also include mills, mill tailings, acid mine drainage, waste rock dumps, heap leach pads, pit lakes, chemical hazards, and associated structures and roads.
However, this project will focus solely on abandoned mines and not the hydrology and other physical aspects of these nasty old holes in the ground.
They are also not only interested in these mines as abodes for bats, but turtles, tortoises, owls, and other like-minded creatures as well.
The state, BLM and DOI has done some initial vetting work, and have designated those mines slated for closure permanently and those that will be remediated for animals. Each year, mines are added to a list; primed for closing. They check for certain mine characteristics since mines providing bat and other animal habitats will have available water, good airflow within the mine, and complexity of shafts and adits at different levels, and are treated differently.
On this trip, I won’t have to worry about bats and other mine dwelling little beasties. They also have a rather long list of mines that will be converted to bat, owl and turtle hotels. That will be the task of others appropriated for this project.
They already have a surfeit of mines that need to be demolished. That will be my purview.
I have to admit that I’m somewhat relieved.
Nonetheless, I will be saddled with trainees. The number at this time is unknown, but most all those listed as possible candidates are either in Ph.D. programs or have been awarded their degrees; though there are a few grad students listed as well.
None of them are certified blasters; although some of them do have basic training in the care and handling of explosives. I note that this will be the key element in whether they venture to Nevada to join me or they sit it out until someone else gets to stickhandle the program.
All that out of the way, I still need to negotiate the timings and duration of this project, my recompense, and permits necessary. I also need to make it clear that I’m the hookin’ bull on this project, like in any other project that deals with demolition. I also require carte blanche to the munitions lockers of several different agencies once again.
All in all, a nice little project that sounds fun and profitable.
I begin writing the monograph as to how people should go about closing abandoned mine and sites. That is, right after I send Dr. Harry a copy of my official contract for this endeavor. Since I don’t know yet how long this is all going to take, I’m going with a day-rate, as opposed to a project-based, contract.
That should send them all screaming into the night.
I’ve sent off the appropriate paperwork to Albuquerque and Dr. Harry notes its arrival. He tells me that it will take a few days as it’s going up to Nevada agencies as well.
Speaking of agencies, I’m thinking I should probably have a chat with Agents Rack and Ruin and let them know what I’m up to now.
I return to my office with a fresh tumbler of ice and a new cigar when my detestable satellite phone rings. I let it ring until I pour my drink.
Damn these Agency guys can be scary at times.
“Agent,” I say, “How may I help you? Also, which one is this?”
“Hello, Doctor. It’s Agent Ruin.” The phone replies.
“Agent Ruin. Top of the afternoon to you.” I joke.
“Yes, Doctor; and the rest of the day for me” he replies. “I hear you’re off to the Middle East...”
Holy shit. Have I actually put one over on the Agency?
“…right after Nevada.,” he quickly adds.
Damn. Not this time.
“Perhaps,” I say. “But, yes, I’m off to Nevada to make the world safer.”
“What about the Middle East?” he asks.
“Later, perhaps. Still sorting out all the particulars on that one.” I note.
“Good.” he says, “We were most impressed with you and Dr. Eva’s junket around the Southwest. We can’t wait to read your monograph on the means and methodology of mine remediation.”
Forget ever putting one over on these guys. They’re too well connected.
“I’m pleased to hear that,” I reply. “What else can I do you for?”
“Oh, now?” he asks. “Nothing much, I was just making contact and verifying some details.”
“Just keeping tabs on me, right?” I ask.
“Precisely. Good day, Doctor.” He says and disconnects.
“One of these days…” I fume.
Time progresses as time usually does and I receive a reply from Dr. Harry after a week’s time. They have accepted all my conditions except for the day rate. They offer some 80% of my asking price but note there is room for a post-project bonus, which could be quite lucrative if we fulfill the project parameters.
Still, I’m getting about 15% above and beyond my usual day rate, so I accept.
I’m sneaky that way.
He notes the project is fully funded and will be slated for 2 months in total. As Nevada is large and underpopulated, it’s going to be different than my previous sojourn. Much more camping and traveling, and less time in motel rooms.
Plus, given the proclivities of these hard-rock mines, most all have several adits or openings as opposed to the mostly single-aperture mines I’ve dealt with previously. This will require some technical rock-climbing gear and a metric shitload more explosives.
“Like that’s a real problem,” I snicker to myself.
I begin my preparations. Dr. Harry tells me I can obtain a trailer for supplies as per the previous in Albuquerque. He notes the DOI has reviewed my notes from the last trip and have constructed a special trailer for me just for this project.
Remembering all the gear I took on the last trip, I sorted it all out into piles of “used – necessary,” “used – nice to have available” and “unused – leave the fuck home.”
The one thing I wanted was a little extra firepower. I purchased that little .22 as a gift for Dr. Eva, but don’t want to make a habit out of it. Since some of these characters I might be working with will be from the East Coast, therefore idiot liberals, I’m certain they won’t bring sidearms.
I’m neither liberal nor conservative, so some might also be meathead conservatives.
So, I need to carry along a couple of extra pop guns, just in case.
Trouble is, I’m not leaving my .454, that’s a given.
I have several other large-caliber pistols, but only one that’s not a revolver. If I get into a nest of rattlesnakes or attacked by a fearsome bask of saber-toothed seriatim desert crocodiles, I want to be able to fling a lot of hot lead downrange.
That means I’m taking my sole 10mm Glock.
But, I can’t wear that on my hip opposite my Casull. It would be all asymmetrical and would look silly.
So, I head to one of the thousands of pawn shops in Houston to find a serviceable shoulder holster.
The only one I could find in the short time before I leave is a leather double-gun rig.
It’s made of bull leather, fits like a glove, but leaves me leaning to port, or starboard, depending on where I stash my single semi-automatic.
Simple problems require simple solutions. So I find another Glock 10mm and buy it off the pawnshop.
There. All nice and symmetrical and well balanced.
If only all life’s problems were that easy.
I add a couple of extra coolers to my gear that is accompanying me. I include my climbing gear; harnesses, ropes, pitons, carabiners, rapid ascenders and the like, my camping chair, portable generator, electric jackhammer, tent, sleeping bag, foul-weather gear, sunshade, worktable…hell, my ‘leave it the fuck here’ list didn’t contain that many different articles.
With that, I add camp stove and lanterns, Mossberg 10 gauge pump, boxes of ammunition, my detonators, both electrical and manual, Blaster’s pliers (x2), Brunton compass, a passel of new notebooks and all related pens, Mylar, pencils, and ink.
Esme packs all my habiliments for me as I am, once again, when it comes to packing, “hopeless”.
At least I don’t have to worry about room for pyrotechnics, I already have my DOD- approved lock-box affixed to my truck’s frame in the back. I also have all the necessary OSHA and DOT-approved stickers adorning the box and my back window.
The trailer I’ll pick up in New Mexico will supply a load more room as I don’t need any cement or cementing tools, a water bowser, saw, or aluminum U-tubes. Let someone else dick around with all that guff.
Digger the mechanic gives my truck the once-over before I go. The tires needed a bit of nitrogen, the transfer case was a skoosh low on gear oil, and of course, the blinker light fluid needed to be topped off. That stuff is always a consumable.
He pronounces it roadworthy and wishes me luck on my trip.
Of course, Esme is seeing me off at the ungodly hour of 0200. 0000 hours last time proved unnecessary.
We went over the lists of necessary items. Besides retrieving my field camera, film, 2 extra boxes of cigars, and my damned galvanometer; we embrace, kiss, and I once again head out solo into the great southwest.
Much like the last time, it’s exhilarating to be back on the road again.
Two hours later, I’m bored out of my skull.
I stop in Mancos, Texas for the * de rigueur * jerky, potables, ice, and other necessary adjuncts to make this trip successful. I back off on the coffee as I found a supplier of Nehi in Houston with all sorts of weird and wonderful flavors.
I absolutely love the stuff and am taking 3 cases of the pop with me on this trip.
I decide to push it for all it’s worth. I buzz past San Antonio as I’m still taking the southern I-10 route. Past Kerrville, past Sonora and Ozona, I’m making great time. I re-fueled before I hit the road back in Houston, so I should be able to make it damn near to Albuquerque before I need to gas up again.
I have enough road chow and drinks of a non-alcoholical variety so that I’d only have to stop to avail myself of the roadside facilities. It dawns on me that I’ll have to stop somewhere before Reno, my first Nevada port of call, and stock up on toilet paper.
Past Sheffield, past Balmorhea, and I’m just cruising. Cigars are smokin’ and my radio’s blowin’ a fuse. I’ve added a Citizen’s Band to my truck radio since my last trek. During breaks to allow my eardrums to quit buzzing, I eavesdrop on truckers and their conversations.
Wham! Past Van Horn, past Fort Stockton, and right past El Paso. No need to stop now, I’m making great time.
Dogleg right and I slide right back into New Mexico. Now I’m headed more or less north and back into the lands I know so well.
I buzz past Las Cruces and notice I’m beginning to flag a bit. It’s been around 14 hours straight of driving, and even with remembering my sunglasses this time, I’m getting a bit road weary. My eyes feel like they’ve been sandblasted and I think that I’m really not in that great of a hurry.
Maybe it would be best to just drive to the next town of some size and call it a day. No use getting all winded on the first day of a new project.
I figure I can make it to Socorro, no problem when the late afternoon sun hits.
Yow! Stuff this, I’m finding decent lodging as soon as I can.
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico is a weird little burg. Originally called ‘Hot Springs’, it was filled with 40 different natural hot springs spas—one spa for every 75 residents at the time. The city changed its name to "Truth or Consequences" as the result of a radio show contest.
However, they still have ample hotels and most all are located in or on naturally occurring hot springs.
Hot diggity damn.
I wheel into the Sierra Blanca Grande Hotel and Hot Springs. Invading the lobby, I cause a few heads to turn with my black, recently re-blocked Stetson, really ghastly Hawaiian shirt, cargo shorts, tall Scots woolen socks, and freshly oiled Vasque Trekker field boots. I left my pistols locked in the truck but was still wearing my double-gun rig under my vest and my Casull holster on my hip.
“Good afternoon,” I say to the lovely older lady behind the front desk, “I am requiring lodging and strong drink for the night. Might your honorable establishment have such amenities available?”
“You want a room and a bar?” she says, matter of factly, “Yep. We got that.”
“Splendid,” I reply. “One single room, preferably with a large tub, and start a bar tab for me.”
“Certainly. May I see your identification?” he asks.
“Конечно Of course.,” I reply. As I hand her my red passport; as I’m just so used to traveling with it.
I often slip into other languages just for shits and giggles.
She inspects the document and asks me: “Итак, доктор. Это только на одну ночь?".
Now it was my turn to be shocked and awed.
“You speak Russian?” I asked. “Very nice. Much better than I do. Only the one night, пожалуйста, please.”
She smiles at me radiantly, “Most certainly, Doctor.”
She is puttering around with registration books, punching something into the computer, and futzing around trying to find my accommodations.
“Доктор Рокнокер,” she smiles. “We have a single room available. It has a queen bed and a typical shower-tub arrangement. It’s going to be $139 for the night.”
I’m a little disappointed as 14 hours of road time has made my back go all canine. It was barking at me again.
She sees my regret and says quietly, “Однако за ту же цену у нас есть специальный набор. Та же цена, но с частной гидромассажной ванной с минеральной водой.”
I just stand there and try to decipher each word in kind. She’s obviously a native speaker or one just damned good in Russian. At least, one a hell of a lot better than me.
She smiles, and tells me, “It’s a special room for our special guests…”
The penny finally drops. She’s going to upgrade me to a suite with a private in-room mineral bath for the same price.
It only took me 10 minutes to figure that all out.
I thank her profusely and register at the hotel.
“Thank you, Doctor,” she says. “Where did you learn Russian?”
“Siberia.” I replied, “I’ve worked out in the oilfields of Western and Eastern Siberia for years.”
“Odd,” she smiles at me again, “I thought I might have heard a little bit of St. Petersburg accent there.”
I smile broadly. St. Petersburg is considered by many to be the highest form of Russian accents.
“You’re in suite 185, first floor. Will you require any help with your luggage?” she asks.
“No, thank you,” I say, beaming back, “Огромное спасибо. Добрый день., Thank you so much. Good day.”
“Не проблема,” she smiles back. “No problem.”
I wheel my truck over to room 185. I was expecting a usual long hallway studded with doorways every 25 feet. Nope, this was more like a collection of interconnected haciendas. I had my own private porch, king size bed, work desk, TV, and huge indoor hot tub, piped directly into the local geothermal hot springs.
I park out front and drag in just those things I’ll need for the night. Cigars, vodka, lime Nehi, a change of underoos, and weaponry that I don’t want to leave in the truck overnight; just the bare necessities.
Once settled and after a quick call home, I break out the atlas to plot my course from Albuquerque to Reno. I haven’t done much traveling in Nevada, save for the occasional R&R flights to Las Vegas. But this is a business trip, so I make sure to plot a course around the place to avoid any untoward temptations.
From T&C to Albuquerque, it’ll be around three or so hours. No idea how long I’ll be in Albuquerque at the DOI. But from the capital to Reno, it’s going to be at least 19 hours if I skip Las Vegas. However, if I choose that route, I’d have to drive clear across the breadth of Utah.
Well, that’s not going to happen.
OK, hard left at Albuquerque, and straight across Arizona, following I-40 to Kingman. Then up Highway 93 and north through Vegas. Pick up Highway 95 and north to Fallon, and another hard left onto 50 to just before Fernley, Nevada. Hard left once again, and I-80 right into Reno.
Easy-peasy?
Sheesh. I should have put my truck on Amtrak and just taken the bloody train.
Oh, well. Can’t be helped. I whip a large, iced Rocknocker for myself, grab a handful of Nevada mining geology magazines, a couple of cigars, and head for the hot tub.
After I close the drapes, of course. Doubt I’ll ever forget Myanmar.
It was glorious. The hot mineral-rich waters burbled and pummeled that old lumbosacral region right into submission.
I was so blissed, I just forgot about dinner. I’d grab something on the road in the morning.
The next day, I left a little something for the clerk at the front desk. A quick thank you note, my business card, and a sawbuck.
Back on the road again, I schuss right past Socorro and straight up to San Acacia. There’s a local little roadside café there that’s on the same order as the Cuba Café. I order 6 breakfast tacos with chorizo to go. Excellent road chow with that take-the-back-of-your-head-off dried New Mexico chili surprise.
Just a bit further north and I’m back at the DOI again. I wheel in, park, and head up to Dr. Harry’s office. His secretary recognizes me and offers me coffee while she goes and finds Dr. Harry.
Dr. Harry shows up a few minutes later, and we both traipse into his office. I immediately hand over a cigar to preclude his whinging about not having any.
‘Thanks, Rock,” he says, “I have your list of those who will accompany you on your project. There are three slated, but we have only confirmations on two of them. If the third doesn’t make it, one or the other, or perhaps both, will remain for the whole project.”
“Sounds a bit ad hoc,” I reply, sipping my coffee, *But it is what it is. I’ll be meeting them in Reno?”
To be continued.
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what are electrical hazards osha video

Electrical Hazards – Anatomy Of An Accident. A crew of four linemen were installing intermediate poles on an existing single phase 14.4 KV distribution line. Three of the workers were journeymen with 30 or more years of experience. The fourth was an apprentice with almost 3 years experience. The following summary describes a tragic accident: OSHA's electrical standards are designed to protect employees exposed to dangers such as electric shock, electrocution, fires, and explosions. Includes references that provide information related to electrical in construction including OSHA's electrical construction regulations, hazard recogition, possible solutions and additional resources. Electricity has long been recognized as a serious workplace hazard. OSHA’s electrical standards are designed to protect employees exposed to dangers such as electric shock, electrocution, fires, and explosions. Electrical hazards are addressed in specific standards for the general industry, shipyard employment, and marine terminals. Hazard Assessment OSHA Subpart S Employees working in areas where there are potential electrical hazards shall be provided with, and shall use, electrical protective equipment that is appropriate for the specific parts of the body to be protected and for the work to be performed. PPE shall be maintained in safe and reliable condition and inspected. Determine heat level in cal/cm² AR Clothing The following hazards are the most frequent causes of electrical injuries Contact with Power Lines, Lack of Ground-fault Protection, Path to Ground Missing or Discontinuous, Equipment Not Used in Manner Prescribed, and Improper Use of Extension and Flexible Cords. [ 29 CFR 1926.416 (a) (1)] Contact with Power Lines. Electrical safety is a general practice of workers who are exposed to handling and maintaining electrically powered equipment. It is a set of guidelines they follow to mitigate electrical hazards and prevent its dangerous effects in case of an incident. Unable to adhere to electrical safety can lead to accidents, near misses, or even fatalities. • NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace OSHA 1910.132(d)(1) requires the employer to “assess the workplace to determine if hazards are present, or are likely to be present Simple definition: Electricity is dangerous. Employees risk electrocution any time they’re working with or around machines that conduct or generate electricity. Wiring is one of the most common sources of electrical hazards. Electrical Hazard:An electrical hazard is a dangerous condition where a worker can or does make electrical contact with energized equipment or a conductor. From that contact, the person may sustain an injury from shock, and there is a potential for the worker to receive an arc flash (electrical explosion) burn, thermal burn or blast injury. Electrical safety OSHA standards are designed to help protect electrical and non electrical workers who are and may be exposed to electrical hazards such as personal electric shock, arc flash and arc blast, fatal electrocution, electrical arc flash fires, and arc blast explosions. These various electrical hazards are covered in specific Electrical safety OSHA standards for the general workplace, shipyard employment, and marine terminals.

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